So he can see a better world
by JDark
Summary: Konoha is in ruin. The fateful battle between Sasuke and Naruto has taken place, the outcome is tragic. The unexpected follows though. Naruto is given a second chance, an opportunity to change the future. He becomes fixed on finding a way to save Sasuke.
1. Chapter 1: The end

Title: 'So he can see a better world'

Summary: Konoha is in ruin. The fateful battle between Sasuke and Naruto has taken place, the outcome is tragic. The unexpected follows though. Naruto is given a second chance, an opportunity to change the future. He thus becomes fixed on finding a way to save Sasuke. (Timetravel, SxN friendship/slight romance if you want to see it that way)

Disclaimer: the world of Naruto and its characters - all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

A/N: It's my debut work. I'll really appreciate your reviews! I won't mind you becoming my Beta either...

Enjoy!

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><p>The rain was pouring down heavily putting out the last flames and exposing the wrecks. Numerous ruined, burnt and barely recognizable remains of buildings filled the area inside the huge wooden fence. The place was dead silent, not a moan or a cry for help could be heard, both have long ceased. Only one low chirping like noise lingered in the air. It was coming from the center of the annihilated village where two boys, badly wounded and bleeding, stood preparing for the finishing blow. They gazed intently at each other, wanting, desperately wanting to dissolve their deadly techniques and once again be friends, be at peace and pretend they had never faced such a gruesome fate. But couldn't neither forget nor forgive. Closing the pain-filled eyes for a second, they charged at each other. And there it came, Chidori vs Rassengan. Again...<p>

After his meeting with Sasuke in the Snow country he thought that when, not if, they battle, they would both die. He, Uzumaki Naruto, was prepared. He has promised his best friend that he wouldn't leave his side; they would die together, finally freed of all the obstacles preventing them from being friends. But here he was, sitting in the ruins of his precious Konoha with dying Sasuke in his lap, being rapidly healed by the demon fox. How could he have forgotten about the Kyuubi's power? The damn fox just won't let him die along with his beloved friend. He mentally cursed the fox, receiving ferocious growl in return.

Naruto felt devastated, everything he loved had slipped from his hands. He lost his parents before he even got to know them, he lost his Godfather two years ago, today he lost his home, his precious people, friends, his mentors. He had failed everyone, just two weeks of him being hokage and the village is completely wiped out. Was it his fault? Yes it was. He was fooled by the enemy and lured out of the village. By the time he killed Madara and saved the World, _his world_ had been destroyed. Not by anybody, but his best friend. If he wasn't sure that Sasuke hadn't heard about him becoming hokage, he'd swear the bastard attacked Konoha just to take his, Naruto's, dream away from him. Still he regretted hurting Sasuke. The Uchiha was the last remaining piece of his world which he probably treasured the most. Losing him was equal to losing all ties with the world and being completely alone – one thing he couldn't bear again. If only he had asked Sakura or Tsunade-baachan to teach him some medical techniques back then, he could have helped Sasuke. But he didn't and, being miles away from other possible sources of medical help, couldn't do a thing to help Sasuke.

"I'm so sorry", he whispered, gently removing blood soaked bangs from the Raven's face. The boy was unconscious and most likely didn't hear him, still Naruto continued.

"You know, Sasuke, it's probably my fault that everything has turned out like this. If I hadn't chased after this stupid dream of mine, I wouldn't have trained like insane and made you feel weak. Now, that I think about it, I was the one who made you leave the village seeking power, - he sighed heavily, - Competing with you, trying to surpass you… all I did was scaring you, making you doubt your powers. I'm such a fool". Such thoughts had been lurking in Naruto's head for quite a while. The more he thought about the reason why Sasuke left the village, the more he felt himself at fault. Feeling desperate, he was making suggestions on what history has never possessed - other possible turns of events, the many ifs which might have led to a completely different future.

"Just imagine, - Naruto smiled weakly, - if you stayed in the village you wouldn't have to fight your brother all alone. Maybe you wouldn't even have to fight him at all if we somehow figured he wasn't a criminal before it was too late. Then we could have brought him back to the village and you'd be a family again. Wouldn't it be great, Sasuke?" _'I really wish it was like that'_ he thought.

Naruto took off his tattered hokage robe and torn it down to ribbons.

"I'm really useless, I spent years with Sakura-chan, but didn't learn a single medical-jutsu. Don't worry, I'll bandage you and stop the bleeding. I promised that we will die together, remember? So, because the stupid fox has healed me, I won't let you die alone. The nearby village is a bit too far away, but we'll make it somehow. I'll save you, I promise. Just don't leave me…"

"You know, I'm hokage now, I've fulfilled my dream. Well, sort of fulfilled… Anyhow, you've also done your revenge. It's time to move on. Now everything can be different. I still believe in our bond. Let's try to start everything from the blank page. This time we can…" Naruto froze as a pale hand reached out to caress his cheek.

"You're so naïve, Usuratonkachi", Sasuke was looking up at Naruto's tearful face, "there's no second chance for me."

"No, you're wrong… just don't give up, please!" _'You're my only remained link to the world, Sasuke, how can you not understand?'_

"Sorry, for everything, but I just couldn't forgive them" Sasuke closed his eyes, withdrawing his hand, regret could be clearly seen on his face. "All this time I was running away from you, trying to sever our bond, but I really treasured the friendship we shared. What I wanted was to forget that I actually can be happy to carry out my revenge. I wonder," Sasuke paused, glancing up at Naruto. "Can you still consider me your friend?" he questioned almost hesitantly.

_'And they call him a genius. I've spend years chasing after him to prove that I'm still his friend, who needs him and longs for his return'_ Naruto chuckled lightly.

"Yes, I still view you as my best friend, Sasuke " Naruto gave him a cheeky grin before continuing. "I'm really an idiot to think so after all you've done, can't help it though. I might want to beat some sense into you with my fists, but I can't bear loosing you, Sasuke"

"That's great," Sasuke smiled weakly, once again falling into unconsciousness.

_'Damn, have to take him to the hospital real quick or else'_ Naruto shook away the thought and, carefully moving Sasuke's limp body from his lap to the ground, tried to stand up. And failed. Suddenly feeling a searing pain behind his eyes, he pressed his palms against them tightly, but losing balance, fell backwards. When he recovered from the impact, he noted that the pain ceased, but still got scared as he could see nothing but pure white.

_'Have I turned blind?'_ he waved his hand before himself and made a sigh of relief, determined that he sees it just fine. _'Well, I guess, not.'_

Naruto surveyed his surroundings, actually, the lack there-of, finding himself in a completely white and empty dimension. _'Where the hell am I?'_

"Kyuubi, is that yours doing?" Naruto shouted into the nothingness. "Let me out I need to help Sasuke!"

Naruto froze as he heard soft footsteps from behind him. "Kyuubi?" he turned around, promptly gasping in surprise.

"No, take another guess" the man who now stood before Naruto smirked.

_'Uchiha Itachi'_ he recognized him as soon as he saw him, but just never expected to meet him again, especially since the clan murderer has been long since dead.

"How you…"

"Did you forget that I store some of my chakra within you?" Itachi rather stated. "I believe now is the perfect time for you to use my power."

"I don't need it unless it's some healing jutsu that will help Sasuke" grumbled Naruto.

"My bad, it isn't," the Uchiha moved closer to the Blond, eyeing him. "It can help, though."

"How?" Naruto inquired.

Itachi just smirked changing his usual Sharingan to the Mangekyou. "You'll see. Make sure to take care of my foolish brother and don't screw up again".

The world around Naruto distorted and he felt himself pulled down by some invisible force...

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><p>To be continued<p>

A/N: So how was it? I have some nice idea for the development of the plot. Please, review!


	2. Chapter 2: What now?

A/N: Well, there's the second chapter. Sorry if I made you wait.

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><p>Naruto couldn't tell how long he has been falling. He started to doubt whether he reaches the bottom at all. The pace at which he was going down was slow – more like he was actually drowning. Everything around him was pinch black. The air felt viscid, inhaling it was making his body numb. Somehow it felt really soothing, and eventually Naruto gave in, letting his mind drift into unconsciousness.<p>

When he came to, it took him a while to realize that he wasn't falling anymore. Lying in the supposedly non-existent bottom was very comfy. _'Is it grass?'_ Naruto pried his eyes open. Greeted by bright sunlight, he hissed and turned to his side, looking around. He found himself in the grass field. Alone.

"Shit," Naruto cursed, jumping to his feet.

In front him – only grass. He turned around – three old logs, which seemed strangely familiar. A bit farther to the side was a river and the rest of the view was blocked by the forest. Apart from these the place was completely empty. No trace of Sasuke being brought here with him.

"Sasuke!" he shouted just in case his eyes were deceiving him. Despite Naruto's wish, the Raven didn't show up. Finally convinced, Naruto called out to another being which was bound to answer him.

"Kyuubi, where is Sasuke?"

'He's not with us' the voice growled in Naruto's head.

"Thanks, I can tell that much!"

'You do? I'm surprised' the demon chuckled.

"Oh, would you just stop it. Where is Sasuke?" Naruto raised his voice again, not caring to receive suspicious glances as from the outside it looked like he was arguing with himself. Not like anyone was close enough to hear him though.

'Sorry, but I don't feel like telling you, Kit'

"Wha… Why?"

'You won't like the answer'

"No, you don't mean that Sasuke is…"

'Dead' the demon-fox deadpanned, leaving his next thought inaudible to Naruto._ 'There is still the slight chance, but… no, I better won't let you cling to a delusion'_

Naruto stilled for a moment, a look of horror marred his face. And then he just dropped down on his knees, letting the tears freely flow from his reddening eyes. _'No, that can't be true'_

"Sasuke" Naruto sobbed, fisting the grass beside him. _'After promising that everything will be alright, I failed you'_

_'What's wrong with me? Can't even keep a single promise…'_ Naruto's breath quickened as more dismal thoughts flooded his mind. _'What am I supposed to do now? I don't want to be alone… Sasuke… '_

'Listen, Kit' the demon began, but his words didn't seem to reach Naruto.

The Kyuubi, being fed up with the crying blond, who at the moment was nearly hyper violating, sent a powerful surge of chakra through Naruto's body to gain his attention. That did work as the boy gradually calmed down and felt his stomach warily.

'You still can make everything right, Kit'

'How?' Naruto asked disbelievingly, not actually uttering the word, but in his mind.

'That man, Uchiha Itachi, has given you a second chance. With his sharingan technique and the better part of my chakra he was able to send us to the past. I can't feel his presence inside you anymore, though'

'All this stuff sounds crazy'

'Like you didn't fight with Uchiha Madara and witness with your own eyes his space-time migration technique '

'So what? I didn't expect other Uchihas to know it.' Naruto complained. Even more vexed, knowing that Sasuke might have also been able to use such a technique if Kyuubi aided him with chakra.

'So how far back did we travel?' Naruto inquired.

'Five years or so'

'This much' Naruto replied absentmindedly. His gaze was turned to the logs, which he has finally recognized. That was team 7's training ground, the place where his life as a ninja began.

'In this time team 7 is still together right? They probably didn't even take the chuunin exam yet'

Naruto stood up and headed for the village.

'What are you planning to do?'

'I just want to see them once again' Naruto smiled. 'Besides there's something I want to say to my younger self'

'You can't expose yourself, you know. Your appearance might raise suspicion, which will be dangerous for both of us. I'm still quite exhausted and won't be able to help.'

'Well, I'll figure something out' Naruto stopped, making some hand signs. 'How about this?'

The cloud of smoke covered Naruto for a moment and, when it dispersed, Naruto was no longer himself. He didn't change much, but now he had no whisker marks, his hair was dark and less spiky, eyes gained a shade of green. His tattered clothes also were altered. Now he was simply dressed in black pants and a T-shirt.

"Better right?" Naruto voiced, looking himself over. "Let's go then"

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><p><strong> TBC<strong>

Thanks for the reviews and adding this story to your favourites!

**tray125**, thanks. I'll do my best to make this story worth while.

**Crystalzap**, thanks for your remarks. P.S. I really love your story 'An Unexpected Beginning'. I guess, it was one of the stories that inspired me to write a time-travel fic.


	3. Chapter 3: Missed training

A/N: Sorry for making you wait, guys. Enjoy!

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><p>For the young Uchiha heir the day has started not quite nicely. He was still in his bed, feeling all warm and comfy, though the Sun, which shone brightly through the window, most likely, being the cause of his waking up, was making Sasuke squint his eyes. It didn't bother him much though. As sparing a glance at his alarm clock provided Sasuke with a bigger source of irritation – he has slept in. Aside that Uchihas don't oversleep, which is a given, Sasuke was troubled, because no one had come to pick him up, even though their team was supposed to start training today something like two hours ago. He groaned in irritation and threw back the blanket, sitting up. <em>'A member of their team is missing. Doesn't it bother them at all?'<em> Sasuke thought in disbelief.

Sasuke put on his clothes and, after taking a quick detour to the bathroom, headed for the front door. Even if his team seemed just well without him, he still needed training. Thus, getting sore on the world and confining himself in the Uchiha mansion wasn't an option.

'_Should I make a scene?__ Nah, it's pointless, anyway' _Sasuke sighed opening the door to be promptly swept off his feet by an equally surprised Blond who was about to knock on Sasuke's door or more like just rush in.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried, still sprawled across Sasuke's body as they both fell on the floor.

"Sasuke, you have to save me" the boy begged, raising himself on his elbows and inching closer to the Raven's face.

"There's that weird guy I met in the morning," Naruto kept on talking, hovering over Sasuke.

'_The hell…'_ Sasuke glared. Naruto became silent for a moment not sure why Sasuke was angry, but not getting any explanation continued.

"Well, maybe not really weird. Actually, at first I thought, he was a nice guy, but…"

"Tch, get off me already, moron" Sasuke kicked the straddling him Blond, making the latter fall from on top of him gracefully.

"Ouch! That hurt, Teme" Naruto whined.

"Hn"

"That's not how people apologize, bastard" Naruto flared up.

"Say properly what it is you want or get out" Sasuke evenly replied, eyeing his teammate indifferently.

"I… Um, you see…" Naruto stuttered. He needed help to deal with his 'problem', but he wasn't sure why he ended up requesting it from Sasuke. He didn't even think about what exactly he wanted to ask of the Uchiha.

Sasuke gave him an I-pity-morons look, while getting up from the floor. He then went on to dust down his clothes irritably. Naruto just snorted, not bothering to pick up the invitation to a glaring match.

"Look, can I just hide here for a while?" he asked.

"No" Sasuke replied after actually considering the request.

"Why?"

"Just because"

"Teme!"

"Hn"

Sasuke didn't really mind Naruto's presence, but not in his house that is. Besides teasing the Blond a bit seemed like a good idea.

"Why do you want to hide anyway? Could it be that great Uzumaki Naruto is scared of something?" Sasuke smirked.

"Of course not, Teme" Naruto put out his tongue to Sasuke childishly. "I just don't want to run into that weird guy and listen to his nonsense again."

"What did he told you, dobe?"

Naruto glanced at him suspiciously, as if not sure whether Sasuke could be trusted, but told him anyway.

"He said that I can't become Hokage" Naruto replied sourly.

"So?" Sasuke asked. "Isn't it what most villagers tell you ever so often?"

"This time was different" Naruto sighed. "Actually …"

Naruto fell silent as a soft knocking on the door could be heard. The boys glanced at each other. 'Open the door' Sasuke motioned. 'Like hell, I will' Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"You're opening it and we deal with that guy of yours together or I'm just kicking you out" Sasuke stated, not expecting to see some stranger at his door. _'It's probably just Sakura or Kakashi anyway'_

"Alright" Naruto said meekly.

"Whose there?" he asked before opening the door to assure his safety.

"It's Sakura. I was worried about you, Sasuke-kun. You didn't show up for the training"

The door flew open, stunning the girl. And even more to her surprise she didn't see Sasuke at the door way, but her other teammate.

"What? Did we have to go training today, Sakura-chan?" the said teammate asked, looking confused.

"Yes" Sakura replied, still wondering why Naruto was there instead of Sasuke. She couldn't mistake the house, could she?

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I've completely forgotten about this" Naruto tried to make an excuse, greening sheepishly.

"You what?" Sakura came out of her thoughts.

Deciding that it was indeed Sasuke's house, Sakura got angry with Naruto, who apparently wasn't only slacking off, but also bothered her precious Sasuke-kun.

"What are you doing here and where is Sasuke-kun?" she inquired, clenching her fists and moving closer to the Blond. "It's because of you that Sasuke-kun missed training, right?"

"No, Sakura-chan, you got it wrong" Naruto yelped, evading the blow and running towards Sasuke, who stood near the wall so that he couldn't be seen from the outside, but was able to enjoy the scene.

"That's enough, Sakura" he said, taking mercy on Naruto. "We can still go and train, right?"

"Ah, Sasuke-kun" Sakura finally noticed him. "Yeah, I guess. Actually when I left our meeting point Kakashi-sensei still wasn't there"

'Did that pervert got lost on the road of life again' the boys sweat dropped.

"Ok, let's go find him" Sasuke sighed, leading his teammates out of the house. _'Why am I surrounded by irresponsible idiots?'_

Meanwhile, Kakashi stood on the bridge alone, musing on the ways of how to punish his arrogant students.

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><p>TBC<p>

**Mizuki hikari**, sure. Thanks for reading!

**Crystalzap**, Naruto will make his move in the next chapter, I promise))

**tray125**, thanks, I'll do my best.

**witchdoctr**, thank you! Yeah, I also wish that despite everything Sasuke and Naruto won't end up killing each other.


	4. Chapter 4: Punishment

A/N: Hi, everyone! You didn't think I was dead, did you? I'm terribly sorry for taking this long to update. This chapter is a bit short, so I promise to publish the next one in a few days.

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><p>"It didn't work, huh" Naruto mumbled as he strolled down the street with hands in his pockets.<p>

_'Of course, it didn't. You idiocy never cease to amaze me'_ the demon taunted. _'Who on Earth will abandon their dream just because some stranger asks them to?'_

_'I just didn't think before I acted'_ Naruto admitted.

_'As if you actually do it usually'_

_'I need to talk to him again'_ Naruto continued, ignoring the demon's comment. _'I'm sure, I'll get through to him this time'_

_'Try to figure out how to do it without him fleeting again. We don't want to make a fuse, chasing him down throughout the village'_ The Kyuubi observed.

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

The gray-haired jounin was leaning against a tree, absorbed in reading. He wasn't really good in originating punishments after all. The best thing he could muster was leaving his students to train without his help. Was it any different from their usual course of training? Sure it was. Once he actually did give them some tips about using their chakra to walk up the trees, didn't he? So, now they must be suffering without his wise recommendations.

However, the only one who seemed to be actually disappointed by the punishment was Sakura. She sat aloof on the grass, preserving a safe distance from the open ground where her two teammates were sparring. The boys were so engulfed in their fighting that she could not find the right moment to ask one of them to switch with her. Or more likely she wanted to ask Naruto, so she can have Sasuke all to herself. Eventually the opportunity turned up and she got the chance to do so as the spar between two genins was gradually turning into a brawl.

'The hell are you doing, Teme?' cried Naruto, rubbing out some blood from his bitten lip, which came out as a result of his chin suffering a powerful kick from Sasuke.

'It's not my fault that you can't avoid a kick like this, Usuratonkachi' replied Sasuke evenly, though his expression was close to what one might call being concerned.

'Let's see how you'll gonna avoid my kicks if I get serious, Bastard!' Naruto jumped to his feet.

'I'd like to see you try, Dobe'

'Teme!' Naruto grabbed Sasuke by his collar and was about to punch him in the face when he received a blow in the head from Sakura.

'Aww, Sakura-chan, why did you do it?' the boy wined, clutching his head.

'Stop messing around, Naruto! If you can't fight properly, go and cool down first. It's my turn to spar with Sasuke anyway' she giggled at her last sentence.

'If you say so, Sakura-chan' Naruto signed and walked away from the clearing to give his teammates some room to spar. He wanted to sit near his sensei, but decided against it, and headed towards the forest to take a walk, briefly informing his team about it.

'Let's get started' Sakura said expectantly, trying to catch Sasuke's attention, who at the moment was studying Naruto's retreating back.

'Hn' replied the Uchiha, tearing his gaze from the sulking Blond to take the fighting stance and face Sakura.

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><p><strong>TBC <strong>

Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate them!

**Atomic-Diamonds-Afterimage**, thank you) I'll do my best to make this fic interesting.

**Crystalzap**, ha-ha) I'm sure Kakashi got there not more than 10 minutes before the kids did))

**piratepenguin666**, the disguise is temporary, so wait just a bit longer. And, yeah, it's not really going to be cannon.

**troutman30**, I wonder if Naruto will ever forgive me for making him an idiot. But I'll make up for it) I'll explain why older Naruto did acted this way. And well, what team test? That was just their regular training, I'm sorry if I couldn't make it clear.


	5. Chapter 5: Encounter

A/N: Here's the next chapter! Quickly, as promised. I wish, you'd like it) Enjoy!

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><p><em><em>'Were you able to locate him?'<em> the Kyuubi inquired when his host jolted out of the meditation._

_'Yeah, he's in the forest with the rest of Team 7. Training, I guess' Naruto replied, standing up._

For some reason he did not fell steady on his feet and blinking a few times with his now golden eyes was not helping to get rid of haze in his vision. Naruto sank back into a sitting position on the ground, feeling dizzy. He then had to release a huge amount of natural energy which was absorbed during his meditation, but at the moment was dangerously unstable, threatening to turn him into a frog statue, thus falling out of the sage mode.

_'What's wrong, kit?'_

_'I don't know' answered Naruto, being quite confused himself. _'I couldn't retain my sage mode'__

The demon was silent for a moment, considering what might have been the possible cause of Naruto's state. _'Do not use it for the time being. Your body must still be weakened due to Itachi's jutsu, which has brought us here'_

_'You won't lend me your chakra, and now there's a taboo on the sage mode. Makes me quite powerless, huh' the Blond complained, ruffling his hair with one hand nervously._

_'Deal with it, kit. Just try not to be reckless and you won't have to go all out while your powers are limited'_ the demon suggested.

_'Ah, sure'_ Naruto grinned. _'You know, I like it when you care'bout me'_

_'Whatever'_ the Nine-tailed Fox flung a reply, huffed – more because the blond boy was right and the Kyuubi did care about him, than being actually annoyed. _'Let's go and find the brat already'_

Naruto, who had already recovered from feeling sick, jumped to his feet, amused at the demon's reaction. He gazed at the village which was plastered underneath the Hokage monument. From his position on the 4th Hokage's head he could see the Hidden Leaf village in its full glory: lively, boisterous and simply beautiful with sunlit bright roofs and broad streets in between, filled with people. So nostalgic. A view he craved to see at least one more time. Will it remain this way? Now that he is here to protect his home. There is no way, he would fail again. That's just not what second chances are for, right? Those were the kind of thoughts that had crossed Naruto's mind, before he leaped from the top of the mountain and ran down its side, using chakra not to lose his footing on the steep wall.

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

He just couldn't concentrate. Well, it's not like he actually had to, though. He was against Sakura after all and the young kunoichi could be hardly called a threat. Still the fact that one certain Blond won't leave his mind was quite bothersome to Sasuke. What did he care anyway?

'Tch' Sasuke blocked Sakura's kick, not bothering to avoid it.

_'She treats him like shit, but he just smiles at her in return' Sasuke threw out his right arm to repel the next kick the girl aimed at his side. This resulted in Sakura losing her balance at the impact and falling ungracefully on her back._

'Shall we call it a day?' the Uchiha glanced down at her. _'I want to go and see how's the Dobe doing'_

'Oww' the girl lifted herself from the floor and dusted her clothes. 'I guess'

'Then, Sasuke, maybe we could go and…' she froze mid-sentence as the shouts could be clearly heard from the direction in which their teammate left about ten minutes ago.

Something was wrong. Even Kakashi lifted his eyes from the book and listened. The first to move was Sasuke. He leaped on the nearest tree and, jumping from branch to branch, quickly headed to where he thought Naruto was. His two teammates followed behind.

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

_'Sakura-chan is so mean sometimes' Naruto punched a mushroom, which happened to be growing on his path. 'And Sasuke-teme is such a show-off. I wonder if he's at least holding back while fighting Sakura-chan'_

Brooding and caught in his thoughts, Naruto practically ran into the guy, whom he met that morning and then spend almost two hours trying to shake him off. Luck sure was on his side.

'!' Naruto sprang away from the man, at what he presumed was a safe distance.

'It's you again!' younger Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his older self, who was still using a henge to preserve his disguise. 'Why are you still following me?'

'We didn't finish our talk'

'No' Naruto shook his head. 'We did… Listen, I don't care what you and the rest of the village think about me at the moment, I'll prove to you all that I can be a Hokage!'

'I know you can' signed the, thanks to the henge, brown-headed guy. 'You just shouldn't'

'Says who?' younger Naruto spat out. 'That's the only way to make the villagers to finally acknowledge me and I won't lose the chance!'

_'Why you're always so hard to deal with, kit?' the demon wondered, referring to the teenage version of his host. Older Naruto just cursed under his breath in reply._

'Don't make a fuss. You'll get your team worried from all this shouting' Naruto tried to persuade his younger self. 'Shall we talk somewhere else?'

'Like hell I'm gonna go somewhere with you' Naruto rushed to leave the place, but was grabbed by the elbow, when he tried to pass by the stranger. 'Let go!'

Naruto yanked his arm, but to no avail. This left him with no better choice than to try to kick the guy, the latter however gracefully avoided the blow, disappearing from the younger blond's field of vision for a second. Although Naruto's arm was released, he couldn't do anything to the stranger who reappeared behind him and hit the back of his neck with enough force to knock the teen out.

'I'm sorry' muttered older Naruto as he grabbed his younger self's limp body, before it hit the ground, and threw him over his shoulder.

_'Do you really think it's wise to kidnap yourself? ' the Kyuubi asked in bewilderment._

_'I don't know, but this way we won't have to chase him again right?'_ Naruto replied, not really trusting his own decision. The truth is he once again acted on his instincts. Leading a life of a shinobi made him learn that demobilizing his opponents as soon as possible was safer, than granting them time to pull out some trick. For a second he forgot that before him was an inexperienced genin with no secret techniques. And, well, what done is done. Now he better take him somewhere more secure and try to talk to him once again. Maybe dropping the disguise will do the trick.

Naruto's trail of thought was cut off as a bunch of shurikens flew past him, cutting into the nearby tree.

'Put him down' demanded the Uchiha jumping down from the tree branch. He was soon joined by Kakashi, who, despite the situation, looked relatively calm, and slightly puffing out Sakura, who didn't expect to run so quickly, when Sasuke suddenly darted from their training spot.

'Oh, shit. Maybe that really wasn't a good decision' Naruto muttered to himself.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

**Dragon77**, thanks for reading) I'll update asap)

**piratepenguin666**, I'm really sorry about that. I had some time issues and couldn't update sooner. I'll try to make my chapters longer) And there will be more insight, I assure you.

**Crystalzap**, I'm sure, it's going to happen really soon)


	6. Chapter 6: Teamwork

A/N: Hello, everyone. I'm terribly sorry for being this really awfully late with the new chapter. Anyway, instead of killing me, please, enjoy it if you still want to.

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><p>The scene was quite nostalgic. His old Team 7 was there right in front of him. It was almost as if he was still twelve years old, standing there by their side. At the moment Naruto really longed for it to be real. He wanted to once again experience the time he spent with his team, while they were mere genins. Those were probably his happiest days. Sure some D-ranked missions were boring and annoyed him, but it didn't really matter. They were together and unite. It sure was fun. What he treasured the most was the fact that he felt carefree and protected. Whatever might have happened, he always had his team, the ones who cared for him, who he could trust and on who he could always rely. They were close. He then believed that they would always remain together like this, could always trust each other – teamwork, as they were taught, was the most important thing after all.<p>

However time is not infinite, and taking everything for granted was foolish. What he held dear seeped right through his hands and he could not do a thing.

He lost all of his precious people. And the ones he was facing now considered him an outsider and a threat. Being an enemy to them as he was, did not leave Naruto much choice. He had to come up with a battle plan to get out of this mess and quick.

Naruto sighed heavily, the situation looked complicated. He could not possibly hurt his teenage teammates; his younger self - out cold, thrown across his shoulder - was not counted. So, well, he should just concentrate on avoiding their attacks, until he sees an appropriate moment to flee. It is not all that hard to do for a trained shinobi against a bunch of genin. As for Kakashi, his old mentor was another thing. It could get problematic if he, Naruto, cannot get out of here quickly.

So the plan was to dodge, distract and vanish. The only uncertainty left was what to do with his younger self. Leaving him now was stupid – he most likely was not getting any other chance of recapturing him from alarmed Konoha's shinobi. Kid or not, the younger Naruto was considered a weapon of the village which Konoha was not inclined to lose. Thus he had to escape with him, but where to?

This he could not think out as Sasuke charged at him. Naruto, a bit lost at thought, dodged on reflex, kicking the last Uchiha in the ribs and sending him flying a dozen of meters.

'_Won__'__t__ hurt __them __no__ matter __what,__eh? __Great,__ just__ great__'_ cursed Naruto, watching as Sasuke regained his composure and glared back at him.

"Calm down, Sasuke" said Kakashi in a low voice, locking his eyes with the Uchiha. "Don't be reckless"

"Actually," Kakashi shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "You kids better stay out of it"

_'We shouldn't interfere? No,it's too dangerous to take on the opponent with a hostage has to be had always been'_ Sasuke was rapidly thinking, shifting his eyes between the masked man and the other shinobi._ 'He wants us to sneak and try to ambush the enemy when there would be an opening'_ Sasuke exchanged a meaningful glance with Kakashi. _'That'sgottabeit!'_

"Come, Sakura!" Sasuke jumped on the branch of the tree.

"H-hai" the girl followed him.

They then promptly disappeared in the woods, covered from view by the foliage.

"Good kids", observed Kakashi. "Shall we begin?"

His answer was a dozen of shurikens flying his way. Though, all of them pierced only the trunk of the tree behind the jounin, as Kakashi swiftly disappeared from sight.

Naruto started off, jumping between the branches, but Kakashi soon caught up. They then would appear together on some branch, exchange a series of kicks, and disappear again. It went on for a dozen of minutes or so, one time the jounin got thrown all the way down to the grass, and another the stranger was caught by the wrist, but somehow managed to escape the following blow.

As Naruto jumped away from the jounin, his movements were suddenly stopped - he hung miraculously in midair with nothing supporting him. _'What__the__heck?'_ Naruto jerked his shoulders, which were stiffened by something. _'String?'_ Making an effort, he was able to see the thin glittering in the light threads that confined him in a rather awkward position, as he was hanging between three large trees with his hands almost completely bound against his sides. Even in this condition he somehow managed not to drop the younger Naruto, whom he was now clutching by the back of the other's jacket.

He tried to bounce back and forth to loosen the strings, but all in vain, before it dawned on him that his wind chakra can actually help him in this one. He concentrated it in his left hand, molding the flow, extended from his fingers, into the katana-like shape. Unlike Sasuke, as Naruto recalled at that moment, he couldn't retain this newly created weapon for more than a few seconds. However, that was fairly enough for him to make one swing with this blade and free himself.

Unfortunately, just as his feet have touched the ground he was attacked again. This time by Sakura who charged at him merely with a kunai. This plainly reckless tactics made him wonder, but even more to his surprise the girl actually tried to pierce the younger Naruto with it. This unexpected move didn't give Naruto any other option but to jerk his hand with the boy upwards and block the kunai with his left. In that very second the weight disappeared from his right arm. With bewildered eyes Naruto followed the shadow who took away his younger self and landed on the ground at around 20 meters' distance. Sasuke, as that is who it was, gently placed the blond boy on the ground. As Sakura soon appeared near her two teammates, she tried to check the extent of Naruto's injuries. Sasuke, meanwhile, was glancing back at the stranger who was hesitating to recapture the blond, before, seeing something behind the enemy's back, he smirked.

"Nice, Sasuke! Now I got him!" shouted Kakashi, drawing Naruto's attention. But as the boy turned around he fell right in his sensei's trap.

Naruto gasped, locking eyes with the sharing. The world blurred and began to spin, following the lead of three black tomoes. Everything turned dark.

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><p>TBC<p> 


	7. Chapter 7: Illusion

A/N: Well, I wish this one won't be too confusing. Please, enjoy!

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><p>Being a good illusionist requires high artistic skill. One has to find and unravel every, ever so small, fear which the victim's mind possesses, tug them out to the surface, exaggerate and then sew together so that they will make a real nightmare. It may be a guts-wrecking scene, so disgusting, the enemy won't be able to fight nausea. Or an abyss of engulfing darkness which will suck the victim in and dissolve his consciousness into nothingness. Who knows what else, fears are tricky, sometimes a grotesque sharp-fanged monster from a childhood dream is enough to completely demoralize an adult shinobi. Sure there are brave people, but that is a façade, underneath which suppressed fears are waiting to be set free to start a rampage and take revenge on the offensively strong mind. Being afraid of something is in human nature, it is a consequence of self-preservation instinct, and nothing can be done. Thus, in hands of skilled ninja, genjutsu is probably the most formidable weapon. It might not cause instant death, though some illusions are capable of doing so, but gives the user just enough time to inflict a finishing blow on his astonished enemy.<p>

However, all strong techniques have their shortcomings. As a painter cannot make a picture without looking at the canvas, the illusionist has to survey his creation along with the victim.

Kakashi knew this very well and was, as far as a human being could, prepared. He lived through many things: wars, deaths of his comrades - and his fears, though dulled with age, were to undergo these loses once again. He, however, never denied it, and, as time flew, rather than getting scared, felt eating emptiness in his chest and bitterness at being useless when his precious people needed him. Though, creating illusions for others, he was rarely nice enough not to present his enemy with similar scenes, though it was sometimes hard not to avert his eyes and proceed with the genjutsu.

But Kakashi never fathomed to get so confused and scared from his own made-up illusion. It made him wonder just who in the world was that boy, who was now unconscious, lying tied up before his feet.

Everything went as the jounin has planned, but seemed to go downhill the moment he succeeded in capturing the boy in his technique.

There were so much material for a mind-breaking nightmare, he couldn't choose which to use first. Now he had the enemy all to himself in his illusory realm, where time, space and every other matter flew and changed according to his will. There was no more need to rush, he could take his time, torturing the boy. And so he did, not really bothering with the scenario, he dipped into the enemy's mind and stirred up all his conceived fears, letting them corrupt the boy's conscious on their own, while he, Kakashi, was left with the role of mere spectator.

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

He felt really cold. And soaked. Was he floating down the river?

Naruto pried his eyes open, jolting into a sitting position, which also allowed him to find the bottom of the assumed river as he grazed his knees, grounding into it in the process.

"Aww" he cringed.

What the hell was this place anyway? He tried to look around, but it was too dark to see anything. 'Better find the bank' Moving in the water was strangely difficult. It seemed thicker than usual water, even viscous, and was giving off strange, but somehow familiar, odour. Almost as if it was...

_'No,__that__ can't__ be! __Blood!'_ Naruto thought in bewilderment. He even dared lifting his hand from the liquid to lick some drops of it to prove himself wrong. But, as the metal taste of blood filled his mouth, Naruto panicked. He jumped to his feet and run splashing the liquid and falling down every few meters, though never ceasing his attempts to escape from what turned out to be a pool of blood.

_'The hell is it? Just what is going on here?' _

A few minutes later the Blond finally managed to find the bank and climbed on it on all fourth, dipping his hands in the soggy ground and panting. He then flopped there on his back trying to catch his breathe.

"Hey, Naruto, there's no time to rest. Give me a hand!" Startled the Blond looked up to see none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sasuke?" the questioning tone was unnecessary, as in what seemed to be a daylight, although he couldn't tell just when did it get this bright, he could clearly make out the familiar features of his comrade.

"What are you doing here? What's this place anyway?" Naruto proceeded with the interrogation, casting a wary glance in the direction he came from. There, no doubt now, was a sea of blood, he could not even see its boundaries as they were clouded with fog near the horizon line. He was lucky to come this way, seeking the ground, else he could have ended up never finding any.

As he looked around, nearby he could see some ruins, comprising pieces of wood and metal of different peculiar shapes, sticking from the blood surface. The latter were glittering in the light, looking somewhat picturesque and clearly opposing the general atmosphere.

"Why, Konoha of cause", the Uchiha answered evenly. "Get up, I'm not going to clean up this mess alone"

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and lifted him up. The Blond felt lost, he just couldn't comprehend how these bloody ruins could be Konoha, his home. He let the Uchiha tug him along, wherever it was they were going.

Something was telling him that it really did happen once, but everything concerning his village being annihilated still felt surreal. But then again, what was he doing before coming to his senses a dozen of minutes ago? Why was Sasuke here and when exactly was the last time he had seen the Uchiha? His memories were a huge mess right now and he didn't know why.

"You know, I was afraid that you want show up for the party"

"What are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto came out of his troubling thoughts. "Stop messing around, where's everyone?" 'And if it's really Konoha, why are you here?' he wanted to add, but did not dare to.

"You'll see" Sasuke quickened his pace, not turning around, still tugging Naruto along. "Though, I wonder, if you recognize them"

"Are you in your right mind, Sasuke?" Naruto jerked his hand free, stopping abruptly. "Tell me what has happened to the village"

"You don't remember?" Sasuke pretended to look hurt. "I've cleared it up for you"

"Say that again" the Blond barely whispered.

"Don't play victim, Naruto. I know, you still hated the village. So as a friend I had to help you solve the problem. Look, now no one will call you a monster anymore"

No, that was not it, he grew out of hatred, did not he? The Uchiha was just mocking him. If he had done that to his ones comrades and home, it was solely out of his selfish wrecked reason and nothing else. But Sasuke... Could he really have done it? To avenge his family? Just why it was so hard to convince the bastard to let go, and now it was too late. He totally failed. Naruto felt bitter anger at the Uchiha and himself, and just did not know how to make everything right anymore.

"You're sick" Naruto cried, still not wanting to believe his ears. "If you've really done all this, I'll kill you!"

"What are you saying, baka!" a new voice chimed in. "I won't let you hurt Sasuke-kun"

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto stared at the girl who emerged from god knows where and was already hovering over Sasuke.

"You know, I'm really disappointed, Naruto" Sakura closed in with the Blond, leaving the Uchiha's side, who just kept looking at her coldly.

"You're not reliable at all. First you can't bring Sasuke-kun back, now, when he is, you're trying to hurt him. That's not the way a hokage should behave around his shinobi"

The girl sighed, eyeing Naruto. "You're not fit to be hokage, you can't even protect anyone"

"Sakura-chan, I..."

She caressed her throat. "Where were you when those akatsuki came? If they'd found you first, they wouldn't have had to kill everyone"

Now she was covering her neck with both hands as the blood began to seep through. "Why didn't you protect me?" She whispered, eyes full of hurt and despair, before meekly collapsing on the ground.

"Sakura-chan!" the Blond dropped to his knees next to the girl. But before he could touch her, she faded away and disappeared into thin air.

"What an annoying girl, and I thought I pinned her down already" the Uchiha spat.

"Teme!" Naruto jerked his head up, cerulean eyes glittering with tears, to glare at the smirking Uchiha, but utterly froze on his spot. He saw it, what has happened to everyone. While he was not paying attention, Sasuke led him along the bank of the pool of blood, where the ruins were sticking out. And to his horror, there were people pinned down to them. True to the Uchiha he could barely recognize most of them - their clothes were tattered, soaked in blood. Mixed with mud their marred bodies, occasionally with missing limbs, looked like poor broken-down marionettes that had been unceremoniously flung on the wall to scare neighbors.

His head was spinning, the urge to throw up was getting to him, he couldn't even move, just look past the smirking Uchiha. Did the ruins close in on him? It's like they were surrounding him, he could even hear the shuffle of the crawling. Some figures dropped down to his left. He casted a wary glance in their direction. But the moment he turned his head, something moved to his right and even somewhere behind him as well. He looked back to find a pile of bodies plastered on the ground far closer to him than they should have been if actually dropped. And how were they able to fall down in the first place if they were pierced by dozens of kunais, some even by swords, which were effectively pinning them to the walls.

And then he noticed, the mass of broken-down bodies was stirring and, with jerky and unnatural movements, trying to crawl in his direction.

Naruto thought he had gone insane when he heard whispers from those apparently not so dead corpses.

"Why?"

"Why me? I didn't want to die"

"Where's the hokage? Is there no one to help us?"

"Why won't he come?"

"Naruto!"

The whispers turned in screams for help. He could hear desperation and horror in their voices. And then it, turned into angrier filled cries.

"We shouldn't have made him hokage"

"The traitor!"

"Nothing like my teacher" Naruto thought, he could see his mentor's masked face appearing amid the mass of others'

"And I entrusted my precious village to you... Unforgivable!" _'Even__ granny__ Tsunade?'_ Naruto was trying to back away, and be he not so caught off-guard and mentally shaken by the scene he would have probably already ran away.

"It's his fault! All is Naruto's fault!"

"Monster!"

Naruto's retreat was stopped by Sasuke, who grabbed him by the shoulder and leaned closer to Naruto's year, whispering.

"Are you trying to run away? I thought you always wanted to hear what the villagers would have said if you actually had become a hokage" Sasuke smirked. "Now, I hope, you realize that they would've never acknowledged you... And you know what, dobe" Naruto became completely still, except for him shivering all over.

"I never considered you my -"

"That's enough!" the familiar Demon's voice roared, snapping Naruto out of it all back to reality.

The Blond took a step back from his old mentor, shaking on his feet. They were still locking eyes, both in bewilderment. Naruto couldn't comprehend what was happening anymore, he felt lost and the world spinning around did not help either.

He sank on his knees, clutching his head. 'My fault. Everything is my fault. What I should have done?' He felt weak. Physically, emotionally he couldn't really tell. He just wanted to be freed of these thoughts, of the accusing voices still ringing in his head. He just couldn't bear it anymore.

Kakashi watched as his enemy fell on the ground, clutching his head, before losing consciousness a moment later. And then, to his surprise, with a poof the ninja's body was covered in pink smoke. _'Henge?'_ He didn't wait to ascertain, but threw a bunch of shurikens with string to pin him down.

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><p>TBC<p> 


	8. Chapter 8: Moving

Kakashi was not prone to show his emotions, much less to swear loudly. But, considering the recent events, even he could not abstain from uttering a curse, which, though, could be politely regarded as his wondering about the present situation and uncertainty of what to do next. And he had a point, swearing is quite common a reaction to the unexpected and shocking things, and seeing his dead teacher lying before him quite alive, though unconscious, was one of those things. It took Kakashi a few minutes of the intense staring at the boy before his feet to convince himself that he cannot possibly be the late Forth Hokage. Notwithstanding, the boy was almost his look-alike, only some years younger, and his golden hair was shorter than, as Kakashi recalled, that of his teacher's. Besides he also had some strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks, this feature was not connected with the Forth Hokage, but also rang a bell. Kakashi shot a glance at his blond student, who, lying between Sasuke and Sakura, still was not stirring.

'Maa, just what on earth is going on here?' Kakashi thought, creasing his brows. 'He looks just like Naruto, but how is it even possible. And the illusion...'

"Oi, Kakashi, what are we going to do now?" Sasuke's voice sounded irritated as he didn't understand the reason of his teacher looking shell-shocked.

"Wait till they both come to and ask some questions" Kakashi replied as he kneeled down and began to pull out the shurikens holding the string with which the boy was pinned down. Still, as a precaution, he used that same string to fasten the blond's hands behind his back. Then he lifted him and, walking over to where his students were, dropped the boy there under the tree with his back pressed against it.

Presented with the opportunity, Sasuke studied the enemy's face. "Is it just me or does he looks exactly like the dobe?"

"Well, that's what I was thinking" Kakashi smiled through his mask. "I even checked him with my sharingan, but it appears that he doesn't use any henge-like technique at the moment. So, all more the reason to interrogate him and find out what connections he has with Naruto".

What Kakashi didn't tell them was that he had already pretty much got the idea of who that person was. Similarity in the features aside, there were other things hinting that their captive was Uzumaki Naruto. First, Kakashi felt a rather malicious surge of chakra before his illusion was torn apart, and he could not possibly mistook it for someone else's other than that of the Kyuubi. Besides, the boy's behavior - he was rather running away than confronting them. Although one might regard it as cowardice or the enemy being too weak, Kakashi was able to notice that the kidnapper was actually trying to avoid hurting anyone. Well, if he managed to be at least tad bit of an authority in Naruto's eyes than the kid should have learned that one is supposed to protect their comrades no matter what. Then, this guy's behavior could be considered quite Naruto-like. The only remained question was why on earth there are two Narutos. At this point the age difference was a clue, as Kakashi remembered his teacher and Jiraya studying time-travel jutsus. Could Naruto be using one in the future to come back here? Well, everything is possible, still it's too early to put the guard down, even if this is really Naruto from the future and not some imposter, Kakashi could not completely trust him right away. Thus, the jounin came to the conclusion that it is better to know his reasons for kidnapping young Naruto first and then decide what to do about all this time-travel mess themselves, as he doubted that the elders or the root would want this Naruto for something but a guinea pig.

"Shouldn't we just hand him in to the Ambu? The rules say we must report on every suspicious shinobi who has sneaked into the village" Sakura inquired. Although she was a bit curious about the likeness between her teammate and the stranger, the girl still preferred to stick to the rules, not getting herself into some suspicious or possibly rather dangerous situations. And truth to be told, she could probably careless about her blond teammate's problems. He probably was just messing with the guy, making pranks, and thus got into trouble.

"In this case, I doubt that it's a wise decision" Kakashi replied curtly. "Still, remaining here is not wise either. How about we move them to the Uchiha residence?"

"Wh-?" Sasuke was surprised to say the least. "Why there?"

"Well, there's no one else there, which is good, considering that I don't want anyone to know about that guy yet" Kakashi explained, unperturbed by Sasuke's irritated glare. "Besides, isn't it good to have guests once in a while, ne, Sasuke? He won't break your furniture or something, I promise."

"Hn. Whatever" Sasuke sighed, abandoning the idea of glaring his now slightly chuckling teacher to death. Honestly, why people were always thinking it was a good idea to come to the Uchiha district just because no one but Sasuke was living there? This, however, was not quite true as practically no one except for Kakashi and Naruto were hanging there. Even Sakura and the rest of the Sasuke's fan club were mostly too afraid to sneak into the district stalking the Uchiha. Though, in Naruto's case, he was doing it often, the sneaking part, and without Sasuke's approval. When there was nothing better to do, the boy would come to spend time with Sasuke and maybe train, but eventually annoy him at some point so the meeting would just result in a brawl. As for Kakashi, well, he just happened to hide there from his self-declared rival. As long as he would not bother Sasuke too much the young Uchiha heir did not care.

After finishing some preparation, which was arranging the two unconscious boys on Kakashi's and Sasuke's backs respectively, they decided on their formation. To attract less attention Kakashi left first in a poof of grey smoke, and, after waiting a few minutes, his genin team also set off, but instead of using any jutsus, they simply ran into the direction of the village to get to the Uchiha mansion ordinary way – by jumping on the roof tops.

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

Naruto's head felt heavy, he could not even make himself open his eyes, lingering somewhere between consciousness and oblivion. Strangely he felt rather comfortable and warm, though constant impacts as if he was moving somewhere irritated him. Besides there was something else.

'Jees, that tickles...' He fluttered his eyes open, meeting bangs of dark hair, which appeared to be the source of the sensation, caressing his cheek and neck, while the boy who was carrying him moved.

'Eh, what?' Naruto fully came to realizing that he was carried somewhere on Sasuke's back.

"Oi, teme, what the hell?" Naruto felt embarrassed and tried to get down.

"Stop jerking around or I'm gonna drop you!" The Uchiha bit in reply, when, caught by surprise at his teammate's sudden action, he almost slipped from the roof. "We're almost arrived anyway. So let me carry you, it'll be quicker this way."

"Whatever." Naruto decided to leave his complaints for latter. "What happened to the guy?"

"He's with Kakashi"

"And we are…?"

"My place."

"Oh," was Naruto's curt reply before he drifted back to sleep. Sasuke sighed and looked at Sakura, who was following him, but, not getting any reaction out of her, faced forward again. They almost arrived.


	9. Chapter 9: Reason

A/N: As always, sorry for the wait, guys. This chapter is also a bit short and doesn't reveal much, but, please, abstain from killing me. I finally have some spare time so I'll work hard to update asap.

Anyway, please, enjoy!

Naruto was lying on his back peering into the non-existing celling, beside him, in the cage, the Kyuubi was swaying his tails irritably. The dimension, created by his mind, was now all white. 'Where did the sewers go anyway?' Naruto briefly wondered. Although he hated getting lost in the creepy labyrinth, he was kind of missing the sound of the dripping water, while the lingering silence was killing him.

He might as well have talked to the demon, but he did not feel like it at the moment. Their talks usually ended up in brawls and, considering the fact that since a while ago the cage was missing a lock, their quarrel could only mean him getting slapped on the head with a tail heavy enough to crack one's skull. The fox seemed to develop this habit as a means of proving his point, when out of arguments. Naruto would stop arguing after that, but, of course, he would always try to get his revenge later by using some dirty methods like getting into the cage – intruding his personal space, as the demon called it, – to pull at the Kyuubi's tails, while the latter was asleep.

"So?" the demon broke the silence first.

"So?" Naruto mimicked him.

The fox growled. "You better wake up already or they'd think you're dead."

"You know, people actually breathe even if they're unconscious. It's obvious for them I'm alive."

"What? You're not so eager to meet them anymore?" the demon sneered.

"Shut up! I'll have to face them anyway, just give me a bit more time."

"Damn that teacher of yours and his illusions." the fox muttered. "And how long must I share my room with the traumatized little brat?"

"Hey! It's my mind in the first place." Naruto sat up, crossing his arms. He glared at the fox, but as it did not seem to affect the demon in any way, he soon dropped it and looked away.

"Actually," Naruto started. "I wanted to thank you."

"Hm?"

"I really couldn't stand seeing those things all over again." Naruto shook his head, driving away the horrible visions, as well as the voices of the villagers and his friends that kept cursing him. "So, thanks for pulling me out of there."

The Kyuubi looked at the Blond almost sympathetically.

"You do realize that most of what you saw is not true, don't you? The illusion is supposed to bring out your fears." He stated. "Although the villagers used to hate you in the past, after all you've done for them, I doubt, they were loathing and blaming you like that."

"Even so…"

"You are still feeling guilty." The Kyuubi finished the phrase for him. "Try not to dwell on this much, it won't help anything, kit."

"Ah, I guess" Naruto sighed. "It's just really painful to hear your friends say they hate you so much they want you dead."

"Well, maybe not as painful as having a hand shown through your chest?"

"Don't bring that up. He had a good reason for trying to kill me."

"But still did not!" Naruto added, like a child, pointing his index finger at the demon-fox to emphasize his point in favor of the Uchiha's good motifs.

"And you will consider him your friend no matter what. I've heard this countless of times." the demon said in a mocking voice.

"Yeah, true." Naruto's expression looked sad. _'You know, I've never considered you my-' _Those words also were not true then? Yes, just something he really feared to ever hear from Sasuke.

He had spent most of his life chasing after the Uchiha, always trying to understand him, to find reason behind his actions, and even his betrayal and hatred. Did not Sasuke see just how far he went for his sake? Why would not he accept his help? If only Sasuke would approve of it, Naruto was always ready to be by his side and support him. Was it the infamous Uchiha's pride or a fear of being betrayed by someone close to him again that prevented Sasuke from accepting him? Naruto was not really sure. However, he refused to believe that he did not mean a thing to the Uchiha. He was scared of the very idea of this being true, of Sasuke never considering him his friend. That could not be true. Because you cannot fake your true feelings like that, and Naruto saw it, maybe for a short period of time, but he definitely saw that unmistakable softness in Sasuke's eyes that told him: he did care. That memory did not let him abandon the hope of making things right, so that one day team seven can be once again reunited. It held him together. However, there also was a sense of responsibility.

"I just have to help him, he deserves it. Besides it's partly my fault that he had turned out like this."

"How so?" the demon actually sounded surprised. No matter how you look at it, Naruto did not do anything, except his countless attempts to beat at least a bit of sense in the Uchiha's head.

"He sought for power, because he needed to kill Itachi, right? But I don't think he would have left the village and go to Orochimaru if I didn't push him to do so. I mean, I was also obsessed with becoming more powerful at the time as I wanted everyone to recognize me. I made him my rival for that reason, and was really happy when I actually got closer to be a match for him. I didn't realize that the closer I was getting to reaching his level the more the thought of being too weak was eating at him."

"So, you are saying, he left because he was afraid of losing to you?"

"Yeah, that's probably what it was." Naruto nodded, continuing. "I must have shattered his believe in being able to defeat Itachi. If he cannot even easily win over his teammate what chance does he have against an S-class criminal, right? I guess he was really desperate back then. And, after even personal training with Kakashi didn't help much, he turned to Orochimaru."

The demon remained silent watching Naruto getting up from his spot on the floor.

"Damn, the more I think about it, the harder I want to punch myself for screwing his life." Naruto clenched his fists painfully. "Just imagine if he didn't leave the village and then end up killing Itachi before learning the truth. What if we have learned the true reason behind the Uchiha massacre first? He would still hate the village, but probably would not go as far as trying to destroy it. And he wouldn't have to become a pawn in Madara's game either. More importantly, he and Itachi could be together again. Not as enemies hating each other, but as a family."

"Nice, for once you've got a point. And thanks to a certain dead Uchiha you can even try making all those what-ifs true." the Kyuubi rose to his feet, and, after stretching his back, went out of his cage, facing Naruto. "Now go and try beating some sense into both yourself and the Uchiha brat."

The demon abruptly turned around, sweeping Naruto from his feet with the swing of his tails. The Blond woke up with a start.

TBC

A/N: Well, how was it? I really appreciate all your reviews, so fell free to write them!


	10. Chapter 10: Curious

A/N: There's the next piece. Sorry, at first I thought I'll make it twice bigger, but in the end decided to divide it into two chapters. I want to polish the second part a bit more.

Anyway, please, enjoy!

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><p>Sasuke and Sakura landed before the house of the Uchiha district that Sasuke occupied. Although Kakashi did not appear to be waiting for them and was nowhere to be seen, the front door was slightly open. This suggested that he was already inside, so they also entered the house. There, in the hall, Sasuke spotted two pairs of shoes on the floor. How considerate, - he thought - although he had an enemy who could destroy the whole place in the house, thanks to his teacher, he now should not worry about the floor getting dirty. Sasuke sighed. Then, balancing on one foot and trying not to drop Naruto on the floor, he somehow managed to take off his shoes. And after getting rid of Naruto's shoes as well he went to the living room, where, he thought, he heard some noise.<p>

Sure, when he opened the door, he saw Kakashi. The jounin was sitting at the low round table with a teapot on it. Behind him, near the large opened slide door leading to the garden, was lying the blond boy.

"And I didn't even say 'feel like at home'."

"Maa, maa. Try being a bit more welcoming, I'm your teacher after all." Kakashi replied, not even glancing away from his book.

"Hn" Sasuke decided to ignore his apparently ill-mannered teacher and made his way to the farther corner of the room, where his futon was still on the floor as he did not bother putting it in the closet that morning. Sakura followed after him in the room, closing the slide door behind her. She looked around almost in awe, before sitting on the opposite side of the table from Kakashi. Meanwhile Sasuke was pondering whether he should put Naruto on his futon or not. Considering that having to wash the sheets because a certain guy in dirty clothes, after their training and the fight in the forest Naruto's clothes were far from clean, was lying on them did not sound like a good idea, Sasuke decided against it. He then simply put Naruto down, seating him on the floor with his head against the rolled up futon for a pillow. 'Maybe I should just wake him up already? He's not really hurt or anything.' Sasuke wondered, still kneeling before the blond boy. 'Or should we wake that one first?'

"Leave him like this for now." Kakashi called out. "Come. Sit."

Sasuke involuntarily accepted the invitation. Getting angry at this man seemed pointless. Thus, he also sat at the table, watching his teacher pouring tea for him and Sakura. Sasuke's brow twitched in irritation. 'He couldn't have come here more than 10 minutes before us, but look at this. Did he barge into my kitchen right away to make himself tea?' Sasuke made a mental note that the next time the jounin tried to hide here from Guy-sensei, he would kick him out without mercy.

"So what are we going to do, sensei?" Sakura asked after a five-minute silence. Although the only thing on her mind was Sasuke, who happened to sit next to her, she had to give up on getting his attention as all this time the said boy, seemingly rather annoyed, was only slowly drinking tea and shooting glares at his teacher in between the sips. That is why rather than sitting in this awkward silence, which she feared might have lasted really long, she decided to at least try starting a conversation, besides, the girl had to admit, she was actually curious.

"Well, before those two wake up, I'd like to explain something, so you won't get shocked later." Kakashi replied cheerfully as all this time instead of just glares, which he decided to ignore to mock the Uchiha, he was waiting for a properly asked question.

The two genins nodded at their mentor, showing that they were eager to hear him out.

"Alright," Kakashi continued, seeing that his students were listening to him attentively with genuine curiosity. "This is just my assumption, but, I believe, that this teen over there is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Eh? What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura asked confused.

"I mean that one too" Kakashi nodded in the direction of the older boy.

"No way!" Sakura gasped surprised, but unconvinced, while Sasuke remained silent, observing the boy with more interest now.

"Have you guys heard about jutsu that allow time-space travelling?"

"Hmm" Sakura looked thoughtful. "Yeah, but of course!"

"In the academy we were told that this is one of the hardest kinds of technique. Only very skilled ninja can perform them, besides these jutsu are rather unpredictable and dangerous. Therefore their use is almost completely forbidden" Sakura entered her know-all student mode.

"Such techniques usually never spread beyond the members of the family who developed them." Sasuke added. "Besides most of them rely on the blood line."

'Like the sharingan' Sasuke thought to himself. Actually, his parents never told him about the existence of such a technique in their family, nor could he find any information on it in the dozens of scrolls that contained descriptions of different jutsu, used or developed by the members of the Uchiha clan. However, he clearly remembered Itachi once telling him about it. He could not recall the name of the technique, but knew its general concept. The jutsu was superb. He doubted any human could actually perform it. First the sharingan was needed, but if it was just that. A monstrous amount of chakra was also indispensable. A normal person would most likely die even before he derived the necessary energy. Thus, the only question was:

"If what you're telling is true, how on earth did Naruto learn and managed to use such a jutsu?" Sasuke asked.

"Sorry, but that's what we'll have to ask him." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

"Waaah!" The trio at the table was startled by a shriek, coming from their teammate.

When Naruto woke up the first thing he saw was what he assumed to be his mirror reflection. But then it dawned on him that the figure was lying still and did not follow his movements at all. That got him interested; on all forth he silently crawled closer to his look-alike. He held his breath in awe, hovering over the unconscious teen, the stranger looked exactly like him, but more mature, of course, as he appeared some years older. Yearning to speak to this strange person and learn who exactly he was or, probably, also wanting to determine that the guy was not an illusion, Naruto decided to wake him up. However, while, as the best means of doing so, Naruto was about to pinch his cheek, at that very moment the teen jostled, raising himself on his elbow, and opened his eyes. Naruto barely managed to move away avoiding bumping their foreheads. This unexpected movement of the object of Naruto's interest was the reason of him making that unmanly sound and attracting thus his teammates' attention.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

Thanks for your reviews! I'd have made the proper replies for them if the site was not giving me some troubles with editing, sorry~ `


	11. Chapter 11: Future Self

A/N: Here's the second half. Enjoy!

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><p>Naruto woke up with a start. 'Stupid Kyuubi' he thought. Being kicked out from one's own mind was probably unheard of even among jinchuriki. At least Bee did not seem to have such problems, which, though, was solely on the Eight-tails' account, for the beast was always extremely patient with his rap abusing vessel. They were a strange bunch, but they got along pretty well. This always fascinated Naruto, therefore, when he finally had found a way to get through to the Kyuubi, he was really happy. Although their duo still was not so flawless as that of the Eight-tails and Bee they gradually became closer. Constant quarrels and daily exchange of bitter remarks eventually turned in no more than just a habit, which lacked in venom. This manner of communication was fine by them, since they both knew it was just a façade, the kind of amusing way to pick at each other's pride. However, it was evident for both of them that they could fully trust each other. That was great. For one it meant that his confinement was not altogether unbearable, quite the opposite, he had not been so engaged in human affairs since the time of the sage of six paths. The other finally found a friend that could understand his sufferings and support him. Surprisingly, Naruto did not feel a tad bit of resentment towards the fox on whose behalf he had been called a demon throughout his childhood. He would sooner admit that he still hated the villagers for the way they had treated him, than blame his misfortunes on the Kyuubi alone.<p>

The fox was a victim as well after all. The understanding of this fact allowed Naruto to soothe the demon's hatred, while having him by his side as a trustworthy companion made it possible for Naruto to overcome his own loathing towards the village.

This, however, did not stop him from wanting to beat the fox up from time to time. This once, for instance. Because the demon would not let him play dead a bit longer, he now found himself in a rather awkward situation.

Although, Naruto was locking eyes with his younger self, he could feel the other three pairs of eyes on him as well. He did not like this much attention. Never mind that he was a bit startled and, therefore, for once, lost for words, watching his younger self's reaction appeared to be quite amusing. First he heard him sequel and fall on his back, followed by a moment of awkward silence. But after that the boy recovered in no time, and was now shooting questions at him nonstop.

"Hey, hey. O-niichan. Where did you come from? Why are you looking almost like me? Are we siblings? Hey, say something~" Naruto whined at last.

Naruto just gaped at him, seeing that his henge was no longer in place, he did not know where to start from. The one to speak was Kakashi as he addressed the older Naruto.

"Don't be shy now and at least say 'hi' to yourself."

The blond once again looked over his younger self, but remained silent.

"Eh? What was that all about? Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto was confused.

"That just means that there are two Uzumaki Narutos in this room right now."

"No, you've got to be kidding me." Naruto eyed the stranger with doubt, but paled slightly when the later nodded, confirming his identity.

"Ha-ha, no way." Naruto chuckled nervously. "Prove yourself or I won't believe you!"

"How would you like me to?" Older Naruto finally opened his mouth.

"Hmm, then... What do I like the most?"

"Ramen"

"Dream?"

"To become hokage"

"The person I like?"

"Should I say Sakura-chan?" Naruto briefly wondered whether the young kunoichi would hit them both on the head for that one.

"Of course!" Naruto stated. "Umm, what else... Argh, it's still so unbelievable."

"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi chimed in. "Actually I already have the confirmation of him being your future self, and since he had admitted it himself, there is no doubt about it anymore."

"Future self? Did he travel back in time? Is this even possible?" Naruto felt his head spinning.

"Well, I don't know much yet. So, if you kids don't mind, I shall talk with him first."

"No, no, no, I won't be leaving just yet! Ne, nii-chan, I still have tons of questions!" Naruto addressed his older self, deciding to stick with the 'older brother' to call him. "Say, how many jutsu did you learn? Are they cool? Does everyone think I'm cool in the future? Have you already become the hokage? And what about-"

"You don't expect me to answer all this at once, do you?" Older Naruto chuckled. "Just don't run away and we'll have a long chat later, I promise."

"Why would I?" Naruto asked, not actually meaning to get any reply. In fact he was so happy to meet with his future self, which, he supposed, was a chance of a life time, that he had dismissed all thoughts about the morning events and his confrontation with the stranger. Thus, Naruto failed to put two and two together and did not see anything suspicious in his future self sitting before him and asking not to run away, while the persistent stranger, who demanded the same thing, was suddenly missing.

"Come on, Naruto." Kakashi chimed in. "Before you torture yourself to death with all those questions, I need to speak with him too. Would you guys leave us for a while?"

"Hn." Sasuke got up, shoving hands in his pockets. Followed by Sakura, he passed by the rest of their team and stood by the slide door.

"No way!" Naruto crossed his arms on the chest. "Why does Kakashi-sensei get to speak with him first?"

As Sasuke suspected the blond boy was not eager to leave, but the Uchiha knew how to help it.

"Let's go, Dobe." Sasuke practically dragged Naruto out of the room by the back of his collar.

Sakura also went outside half-closing the slide door. Naruto's gaze lingered on their backs for a while, until they turned around the corner and disappeared from view. Younger Naruto's complaints still could be heard, though. But they also soon stopped as, according to the sound, Sakura seemed to run out of her patience and bumped the blond on his head. That is when Kakashi had finally seen it proper to start the conversation their guest from the not so bright future.

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><p>TBC<p> 


	12. Chapter 12: Conversation

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but at least this chapter has decent size, right? So don't get sore at me! I'll try my best to post the next chapter asap~

Enjoy!

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><p>Kakashi observed older Naruto carefully. There was a hint of guilt and sadness in the teen's expression as his gaze followed the three genins. Did he feel uncomfortable with the way things had turned out? Was he sorry about finding no better way of getting his younger self's attention than kidnapping him? It did not really look like it. The reason for his melancholy seemed to be graver. When Kakashi watched the illusion, he felt different emotions radiating from the blond. Fear, guilt, hopelessness, but also hatred. Not towards the villagers or even Sasuke, but towards himself. Naruto loathed himself for failing not just some people, but all his beloved ones. The future, which he had taken part to create, the choices he had made in life - all his actions had brought nothing, but a disaster. Was he cursed? All he did was just a means of being acknowledged. Just how on earth did the realization of his childhood dream lead to something this dreadful was beyond his comprehension. As for Kakashi, if someone had asked his opinion on whether or not his student could become hokage, he would, probably, have answered that, even despite the boy's legacy, he did not have it in him to become one. Things sure change. Now Kakashi knew for sure what the boy was capable of. From an obnoxious kid Naruto eventually grew up into one of the most powerful adults. But that was his curse and the reason that had brought the village to its downfall. There were just too many enemies lured by the strength of the jinchuriki. And when that jinchuriki became a hokage, well one, probably, could not think of a better set-up to do both: settle their score with Konoha and gain the power to rule the world. All that seemed awful and really very sad. Kakashi sympathized with the boy, though he wondered if he had the right to. Somehow, he felt guilty for not giving Naruto enough attention even though the boy was the son of his precious mentor. Could he still make it up for him, he wondered. Well, he should try; it is not like Naruto here is the only one who is getting a second chance in life. After all Kakashi had seen, he just has to do something to prevent this dreadful future from becoming his reality. Not just because his life literally depended on it, but also due to his selfish wish. The jounin could not bear to see any of his comrades suffer and die again.<p>

Kakashi heaved a sigh. It was time to ask questions. However, he still could not dismiss the uneasiness he felt. Learning your future all of a sudden seemed scary and even prohibited. There was no going back, though.

"Well, would the most unpredictable ninja mind telling me about his adventures?" Kakashi asked in a sing-song voice. In contrast to his inner building uneasiness, he tried to appear calm on the surface to encourage his student.

"Do you really want me to?" Naruto turned to face Kakashi and chuckled nervously. "It's not a pleasant story."

"All more the reason to tell me. I'm your teacher after all, I can help."

"Ah, thanks, Kakashi-sensei."

"Good" Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. The fact that Naruto still called him sensei was pleasing and reassuring.

"Where should I start?" Naruto asked. "I mean, when you casted a genjutsu on me did you see it as well?"

"Yeah," Kakashi admitted, "sorry about all that illusion thing, but we thought you were an enemy and-"

"It's alright; at least I won't have to go in detail at this part of the story."

"Then, what I've seen weren't just your subconscious fears?" The jounin's voice was quiet now. He hesitated to learn the truth. Rather, up to the last moment he tried to believe that whatever he had invoked in Naruto's memory was just his worst nightmare. "How much was real?"

"Pretty much everything. The village had been annihilated by the Akatsuki. I wonder if you've heard about them. And then there was Uchiha Madara or whoever he might have been. He had been planning that attach for years, I think. And the Uchiha massacre was partly his doing as well. I dare say he's on the move even now. Because of that bastard, Sasuke, he... Madara manipulated him and Sasuke ended up hurting our comrades, hurting you and Sakura-chan. I stopped him. But it was already too late." Naruto's voice dropped to a bare whisper as he forced the last words out. "I couldn't save anyone. Sasuke, you, Sakura-chan... I've failed you… I've let you all die!"

To stop the tremor in his hands, Naruto gripped tightly at the fabric of his pants. Unable to look Kakashi in the eyes, he was staring at the floor. Would the jounin hate him now? Can he ever forgive him? The visions from the illusion swept through his mind. He felt a chill ran down his spine.

"Don't blame yourself." Kakashi said, looking at how knuckles on Naruto's tightly clutched fists were turning white. "You're not in that nightmare anymore. We are not going to blame you for what had happened. In fact nothing has happened yet. Save us! That's why you came here, right?"

"I-" Naruto's eyes watered.

That is right. He is not here to seek forgiveness. He came here to erase his sin, no, to prevent it from ever happening. Kakashi trusts him, his team trusts him. They really did believe that he had come from the future. They believed that he is Uzumaki Naruto and not some impostor, who wanted to deceive them. Why did he acted so silly at the beginning and used henge to hide his identity? He was afraid that they would not believe him or would think he is insane. But he should have known better. No matter what, there is still a strong bond that links the members of Team 7 together. Aside from Iruka-sensei, they were the first people to understand and acknowledge him. That is why they always would remain precious to him. If they are by his side, everything is possible.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei! Thanks for believing in me!" Naruto bowed his head. "I won't fail you again no matter what, you just watch me! I will definitely save all of you! Save Konoha!"

"I like the determined you better." admitted Kakashi, seeing that usual gleam in the boy's eyes again. He had seen that look before, when Naruto was speaking about his dream or proclaiming his rivalry to the Uchiha. A serious look, brimming with determination. No matter what kind of unrealistic things he was saying, his words appeared surprisingly trustworthy. It was like he was making you have faith in him. _'Don't forget this look, Naruto. Don't lose hope! I wish everything works out, and you won't show that sad expression from before ever again.'_

"Before I'll tell you everything in detail so we can work out a plan or something, I have a question." As Kakashi nodded at him, Naruto continued. "The chuunin exam didn't take place yet, right?"

"You can tell?"

"Yeah, Sasuke's a good indicator." Naruto replied with a knowing smile. Actually he was really happy to notice that Sasuke was missing his cursed mark. "So, when's the exam?"

"A week from now, I was about to tell the kids that they can participate." Kakashi replied. His intuition immediately suggested that there must be something bad about the exam if Naruto had mentioned it.

"Will something bad happen?"

Naruto gave him a curt nod, "Yeah, the very thing that had started this mess. At least for Sasuke."

Sasuke's face from the illusion flashed before Kakashi's eyes. Cold glare, which makes you want to avoid facing him. It suggests you to run away or better die right on the spot, so the Uchiha would not have to endure your presence. And then there was the mocking expression that crossed his features, when he spoke. Kakashi could tell that Naruto hated it the most. Because, even when the Uchiha addressed him, he did not see him; as if he was nothing, Sasuke's deep charcoal eyes were looking past the boy. So, that was how Naruto remembered Sasuke from his time, Kakashi assumed. _'Just where are you looking, Sasuke? Does your goal really lie somewhere far away in the darkness?'_

Kakashi shook his head in disappointment. "Was it his brother?"

"Partly" Naruto pondered on how to explain the case of the two brothers better. "Actually, many things had happened between them. But the fact that Sasuke succeed in killing Itachi was his greatest mistake."

"You mean to say?"

"Itachi left the village as a traitor after killing the whole Uchiha clan, that's what you think, right?" Naruto suggested. "It's not that simple. Shinobi should always see the truth behind the truth, isn't that how you taught us?"

"So, what is the real truth then?"

"The village was involved." Naruto blurted out the top-secret information at once.

"How did you learn that?" Kakashi hesitated to be convinced.

"From the enemy, surprisingly. Actually, you also were there, when Uchiha Madara told us the truth about Itachi."

"You think we can trust him?"

"I guess" Naruto looked thoughtful. "I don't think how lying to us would have benefited him. If he had made up this story so that Sasuke would turn against the village, why bother telling us? Besides, I've met with Itachi a few times. I don't know, but to me he didn't look like a total maniac, who had willingly wasted all his siblings."

"Appearances are deceitful." the Jounin reasoned.

"No, I can tell, really." Naruto sounded convinced. "It's thanks to him that I'm here. And you know why he helped me? He really was sorry for Sasuke, he still cared for him more than anything. So I promised him that I won't let Sasuke down this time!"

"When was the last time you've met Itachi? Didn't you tell me that Sasuke had killed him?"

"Well, that's quite complicated. Itachi was already dead when he helped me. I know, how it sounds, but… Uh, well, I'm not good at such explanations. The last time we met, he kind of left a bit of his power within me." Naruto gulped down nervously, remembering the way he had received that power. Seriously, he wondered if he would have to fight the urge to cover his mouth and run away whenever he sees a crow for the rest of his life. And toads too. That was traumatizing.

"And so somehow with the Kyuubi's help he managed to send me back here. I have absolutely no idea how the jutsu he used works, though, Kyuubi complained that it took a hell lot of his chakra. But otherwise it's fine, so it wasn't a trap or anything." Naruto finished.

Sasuke was right on the money, Kakashi thought, and the bloodline really was involved. Anyway, what done is done, and since the blond had safely come here, the Jounin only hoped that no hidden danger would turn up later on.

"Alright, let's say you convinced me that Itachi is a nice guy."

"I'm not trying to defend him like that. He's still a murderer, although against his will. But, I just believe that we shouldn't let Sasuke kill him. Actually," Naruto paused. _'I want to try returning him to Konoha.'_

"Well, never mind. Let's deal with problems at hand first." Naruto decided. Whatever he was going to do about the older Uchiha could wait till after the chuunin exam. For now his priority was saving Sasuke.

"So, first of all- Eh? What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

The jounin gestured him to stop talking for the moment and nodded at the slide door. Naruto turned around to follow his gaze and saw his younger self in the doorway. The boy was silent. Somehow he looked really tense, an unreadable expression crossing his features as he was glaring at the floor.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Naruto started. "You look wei-"

"Was it really you?" Younger Naruto shot out. "Tch, how could you-!"

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><p>TBC<p>

Thanks for your responses! You guys are making me ridiculously happy!


	13. Chapter 13: Resentment

A/N: The next chapter has finally arrived! I'll try my best to finish the next one within a week.

Enjoy!

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><p>"Aww, c'mon, Teme! I wanna go speak with him."<p>

The three genin were sitting on the roof of the house next to the Sasuke's.

"Didn't you hear Kakashi-sensei. Besides, he's the same dobe as you, what can you even learn from him?"

"Ha-h?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the insult and shot back a "You're just jealous that I'll learn some really cool jutsu in the future and you won't".

"How do you know?"

"Well, I don't see your future self here."

"That doesn't mean anything." Sasuke was getting irritated. "Maybe my future self is just smart enough not to use such jutsu. Does he even know how to get back, I wonder."

"Of course he knows! Otherwise why did he risk coming here. He probably wants to teach me some badass techniques in advance. So, you just wait, Sasuke, I'll be beyond your level in no time!" Naruto struck his tongue at his rival.

'Surpass me?' Sasuke's glare hardened on the blond. There was no way that he would let Naruto get ahead. How did he even dare consider the possibility of getting stronger than him? That brat without a goal can never dream of surpassing him. What did he have? A dream to become hokage? It was nothing compared to his motivation. He has to become stronger than anyone to kill his brother. He has to get stronger even if it kills him, because he simply cannot live with the notion that his brother is still somewhere safe and sound, after having murdered their entire family. Naruto would never understand this resolve of his. At some point Sasuke really wanted the blond boy by his side, since both of them had been left all alone. Still Naruto's outlook on the world seemed too different from his. All he saw was that childish dream, nothing else. Was he just using Sasuke as a measure stick for his growing strength? Then what? In the impossible case of Naruto surpassing him in terms of strength would he just throw him away and find another rival? Sasuke really hated the boy at the moment. It was him who did not need any one to achieve his goal, him who would shamelessly use other people to his benefit. He would not let others fool with him. That was his resolve, because he had decided that nothing will stop him from achieving his goal. If Naruto gets in his way he would be the one to sever all ties with him. Anyway, he could not trust the blond with helping to carry out his duty even if he wanted to. The boy was still too much talk instead of action. And now Sasuke even doubted that Naruto was capable of at least realizing his own so called dream. His older self did not seem to be brimming with determination to become hokage anymore. Did the difficulties cow him or did he actually, which would not be quite surprising, lack in talent to become the leader of the village and thus had to abandon his dream? Well, getting the reason out of him should be amusing. This would make the little version of the obnoxious blond finally learn his place.

"Do you really want to see him that badly?" Sasuke smiled in an unpleasant way. He suddenly came up with a nice way to dampen Naruto's enthusiasm.

"Of course! Was not I telling you this all along?"

"Really? In the morning you weren't so eager to see that kidnapper." Sasuke smirked.

"What do you-?"

"Didn't you find it strange?" Sasuke taunted. "Where do you think the guy who was after you disappeared to? And why there's your future self appearing here out of the blue? Didn't you notice his hands were tied down? That's because we thought he was an enemy and captured him before we actually learned who he was. He's the one who followed you this morning, Naruto. He just used henge so you won't recognize him."

Sasuke finished his speech looking Naruto in the eyes smugly. He could even see the desired effect on the blond's face as he paled slightly, eyes widening in shock for a second, but then his expression seemed drained of emotion. Sasuke even felt a pang of guilt. Maybe he got a bit too far.

"Oi, Dobe." He called out, as Naruto turned his back to him, slipping down the roof.

Naruto did not react. Smoothly landing on his feet, he leaped over the fence between the houses and slowly trotted through the garden, heading to the opened slide door, behind which Kakashi and his future self were seated. His hands, clenched into firsts, would not stop shacking slightly.

He stopped in the door frame. Although, the conversation between the two occupants of the room stopped immediately, when they had spotted the approaching boy, Naruto just stood before them silently, ignoring their questioning looks. Anger boiled in him, but he still could not bring himself to give vent to it, or rather, he was not sure how to put in words what he felt at the moment.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Older Naruto started. "You look wei-"

"Was it really you?" Younger Naruto shot out. "Tch, how could you-!"

"Oi, chill off, Naruto. He sure has to explain a lot of things to you, " Kakashi began, "but let us finish our conversation first, it's turned out way more serious than I expected, and-"

"I have nothing to say to that coward!" Naruto shouted. "You hear me, I hate you!"

Older Naruto was caught off guard by this outburst of emotion.

"Why would you say this? You and I am the same person."

"That's wrong! You're just damn impostor." Naruto shouted again, punching the door frame with his fist in agitation. "You're nothing like me! I would never abandon my dream. No matter what."

"You just don't know what happened, let me explain." Older Naruto tried to reason with his younger self.

"Spare me. Go use that fancy jutsu of yours and return where you've come from!"

With this Naruto turned on his heels and fled, leaving the two ninjas startled.

Naruto was jumping on the rooftops, not really thinking where he was going. He just wanted to be alone. He felt betrayed. How could this have happened? Would he really give up on his dream? Why? He could not bear thinking that he would end up throwing away his most sacred desire for some unknown reason. Was becoming hokage really beyond him? But then what? What was left for him, should he just give up and become the useless scum the villagers had always believed him to be? So unfair.

Naruto rubbed his eyes. 'Shit'. There is no way he would cry. If in the future he cannot make his dreams come true, he does not need this kind of future. He would never end up like him. No way.

Naruto stopped running, noticing just in time that the row of houses had ended. There was only a wall of rock before him. Even though he was not choosing his path, his legs still led him to the hokage monument. Sighing, he channeled chakra to his feet and started climbing the rock to reach his favorite spot on the Forth hokage's head – a perfect place to calmly think things over, which he needed badly right now.

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><p>TBC<p>

Thanks for your responses!

Please, review! I always enjoy reading your comments!


	14. Chapter 14: Falling

**A/N:** the next chapter, finally… So, please, don't kill me for the delay~ I'm sorry really, but it's been so busy at the university. And I'm dying to get a beta, because I'm ashamed that I don't have enough time to check my work thoroughly, and you have to put up with all this awful mistakes I make. Especially the conditionals, they're my weak point, I guess.

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><p>The room fell silent after the genin stormed out of it, leaving the two adults alone. This was, probably, unavoidable, Kakashi assumed. Naruto somehow always managed to do everything the hard way. And now he did not even give his older version so much as a chance to explain himself. This might be troublesome, Kakashi thought. The jounin eyed his companion, who looked rather troubled.<p>

"Can we finish after I've bitten some sense in that brat's head?" Naruto asked in response to his sensei's gaze.

"Sure" Kakashi shrugged, relaxing in his seat. It did not seem like a good idea to leave younger Naruto alone now. It is unbearable to tell someone that everything he had dreamed to achieve so far would deprive him of the things he treasures and the future itself. Deep down Kakashi still hoped that what he had seen in the illusion was not altogether true. However, it was quite unlikely. The jounin tried to put himself in Naruto's shoes. If he was the one to come back in time with the notion that Naruto as a hokage would bring the village to its downfall, would he have been capable to tell this to the boy? To Naruto, who lived only for the sake of that dream of his? Kakashi did not know the answer to this question. However, he had face in his student, so, he thought, leaving everything in Naruto's hands would be the best option, he would definitely manage to make up with his younger self somehow. Besides, Kakashi had learned quite a lot from the older Naruto, which he needed to think over, before they proceed with some future strategy. So, he nodded, meaning for Naruto to get going.

"Why don't I ever listen to what people have to say?" Naruto sighed. "And just when I thought, the chase was over..."

Naruto stood up. He pondered for a minute whether to put his henge back on or not, but decided against it. Somehow he knew that he would not have to roam through the entire village to find the kid, because he most likely was _there_. When Naruto was feeling down, he used to go sit on the Fourth Hokage's head, carved in the mountain along with the faces of other hokages. No one usually bothered to go there, so the monument presented a nice hiding place from the villagers or any other thing that had upset him. Actually, it always puzzled him as to why he liked sitting on the Fourth's head the most even years before he learned of their connection. Could it be that he felt something subconsciously? That did not sound possible. It was just that he had always admired the man. He could never even dare dream of being his son, so the notion stunned him, when they met before the Kyuubi's cage in his mind. Seeing his father so close, even though their meeting lasted only a few minutes, speaking to him - that was a real miracle. Even now when Naruto recalled that memory, he felt warmth spread through his chest. If only he could share this feeling with his younger self. And also, to tell him about their mother, their beautiful and kind mother. The younger Naruto still would have to suffer for years, before he eventually learns of his parents and the extent to which they really loved and cared for him. He remembered how he used to hate the Third, because he would not tell him who his parents were. 'Even if I tell you, that won't bring them back', that were his words. So what? He had never hoped to see them again. Just simply knowing their names or looking at some withered photo of the two of them would have been enough for him. He would have been contented with just that. Still the Third and the rest of the villagers had to hide it all from him for so long, that was unbearable. But, he is not like them. He knows for sure that this knowledge would bring him nothing but happiness. So, maybe... He can tell him? At least just give him a hint that he was not alone all this time?

A faint smile fitted across Naruto's face. It had always been a cruel secret to hide from him, and now, when he knew the truth, why on earth would he hide it from his younger self? It is painful to learn about your parents, when you know that they would never be with you, but not knowing them, doubting whether they really loved you or just abandoned, because they did not care, brings even more suffering. He was definitely telling his younger self the truth. If he listens to him ever again, that is.

Naruto paused in the door frame, turning back to look at his mentor. He suddenly came up with a nice alternative to his henge disguise, which would not suck out his chakra and attract unnecessary attention. He can give this a try.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, can you get me something in the meantime?"

After relating his idea, and convincing his teacher that it would not be half as troublesome as the jounin claimed, Naruto finally left the building.

The blond walked past the building, watching from the corner of his eye the two genins on the roof. Sakura had quite a sad expression, which could be regarded as her feeling guilty. Sasuke's face, on the other hand, remained impassive. He met Naruto's gaze for a second, before turning away with a "hn".

When Naruto disappeared from their view, jumping swiftly from one rooftop to another, Sakura finally decided to voice her complaint.

"That was harsh." Sakura stated, sympathizing with the blond boy for ones. The fact that she took Naruto's side actually surprised even her, but she could not help thinking that maybe just this once her Sasuke might have been a bit wrong.

'As if you're one to talk,' thought Sasuke, recalling the occasions on which the girl managed to hurt Naruto's feelings, not to mention all those bumps on his head. 'But, well, really...'

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

True to his expectations, Naruto found his younger self at the top of the Hokage Mountain. The boy was sitting on the stone floor, resting his chin on his knees. The wind blew gently; it was rather chilly out there.

Although, as he thought, he did not make any noise, he could tell by the way Naruto's shoulders tensed up that the younger boy noticed him.

"Go away" the boy grumbled not even looking his way.

"I'm sorry"

"I don't care"

"You just have to hear me out, alright?"

"Says who?" Younger Naruto looked over his shoulder to glare at his older self. "Whatever it is I don't want to hear it."

"Look, I had my reasons to act the way I did. And I have a reason to ask you to give up on being hokage." Naruto furrowed his brows. It irritated him that the boy was not disposed to listen. Who did he take him for? He was supposed to trust him; they were one and the same person after all. So, why did the boy seem to think that he meant harm to him? As if he would play this kind of cruel joke over his own dream. That was ridiculous. But how to make him listen? Make him understand that it is a warning, that he only wishes for him not to make the same mistake twice?

"I don't want you to repeat my mistakes and suffer the way I did. That's all."

"And I won't, because I'm not you!" younger Naruto raised his voice. "I'd never be a coward who can speak of giving up on his dream so lightly! Suffer? So what! Was it too much for you? As if it was not too much for us from the very beginning. I just have to try harder then. Because, no matter what, I still want them to acknowledge me!"

"There'd be no one to acknowledge you." Naruto hissed.

"Shut up and get lost already!" Naruto jumped to his feet, clutching his hands into fists. "I don't care if you return back or die for all I care just don't show up before me again!"

Naruto surveyed the younger boy who looked ready to start a brawl if he was not going to leave him peacefully on his own. The conversation was over for now, he presumed. However, it would be too troublesome to postpone it any longer. So, maybe provoking him a bit would do the trick?

"Well if you resent me so much I just might die, how about it?" Naruto asked seriously. Shoving hands in his pockets, his posture completely relaxed. He made a few steps towards the younger boy, who instantly moved away to the side. Naruto simply made a couple more steps, now standing almost on the edge of the cliff, before turning around to look at the boy.

"What're you doing, you psycho?" younger Naruto's eyes widened. "Get back here!"

Naruto rushed to catch his older version, but failed to grip him by the front of his shirt by an inch, as the latter leaped to the side.

"Oi! Stop that!" younger Naruto landed on his knees. He looked at the other pleadingly. The older boy smiled at him slightly, but still, from his current position – a few meters away from the boy, Naruto let himself slip from the edge of the cliff, his hands still in his pockets. Younger Naruto shrieked, taken a back. He rushed to the place where his older self stood just a moment ago, and leaned over the edge.

"You're not dead, are you? Hey! Dammit, hey!" Naruto shouted desperately. He still wished that was just a sick joke, so he peered down, hopping to spot the other gripping at the rock with chakra infused hands somewhere along the cliff. Unfortunately, however hard he tried, he could not see anyone there. Finally he dared to look at the base of the mountain, but it was too high to see anything clearly there.

"That idiot" Naruto stood up, his legs shaking terribly, and backed away from the cliff. "I- I don't hate you... And I really wanna speak with you! So, please, just be alive, you bastard!" Naruto turned around darting to get to the route, leading to the village.

However, before he managed to get there, he was already on his back, having bumped into someone at full speed and falling down from the impact.

"Ouch!" he winced. His eyes widened as he shot his head up to look at the one who had blocked his way.

"So, did I hear you right?" Older Naruto, safe and sound, was standing right before him smiling brightly. "Now you do want to speak with me, no? Too bad, going back on your word is against your policy."

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><p>TBC<p> 


	15. Chapter 15: Hatred

**A/N:** Hi everyone! Once again, I'm sorry! I'll get rid of this habit of being late with the updates somehow, I promise. But, more importantly… I have an awesome beta now (Pen-Name-Kitsune-chan), who's helping me greatly! So, we'll try our best from now on to bring you even more enjoyable chapters!

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><p>Naruto, getting over his initial surprise, finally managed to tear his gaze away from the older boy.<p>

"That was a cheap trick, you know," he mumbled, examining the ground by his feet.

"But it worked, right?" The older Naruto smirked, crossing his arms. "Consider it a punishment for all the pranks we used to pull on the villagers. They weren't really happy with us back then."

"They're still not particularly nice or anything, so they deserved it," Naruto grumbled, looking back up at his older self. It still seemed unbelievable that they could ever be the same person. How could he ever brush off everything so easily?

Older Naruto studied the pained expression on his younger self's face. There was that sad and haunted look, which he did not see in the mirror anymore. Somehow he had managed to overcome his resentment towards the villagers and, thus, wished the younger Naruto could do the same. He still had to reveal a lot of things that would aggravate his younger self. So the least he could do was free him from the unnecessary suffering that despising everyone had brought him. If he could somehow spare this boy from following in his steps, he would gladly use every means possible to succeed.

"You know what? I don't hate them anymore." The older Naruto grinned widely. "I realized that hatred is pointless... It only festers and creates more pain and hatred. Those who turn their eyes only to darkness and anger will never be happy.

He knew it perfectly well, because he had learned it the hard way. Hatred was not only self-destructive, if you let it corrupt your heart, everything around you would be sucked into the darkness. As long as they existed things like hatred and revenge brought only misery to people who submitted to them. If you kill someone, people who seek revenge on you would appear. Then, if you get killed by them, you friends would try to avenge you. This circle of hatred can go on forever; more and more people would be caught in it until it is a full-fledged war.

"When you hate someone the thing you really do is closing off your heart. You're just trying to get away from the things that hurt you. But that won't get you anywhere." The older Naruto stated, his voice full of determination. "It felt unbearable for me at a times but I tried to leave my heart exposed to them. So, that maybe one day they would get over their preconceptions and see the real me."

The older Naruto studied his younger self who seemed quite thoughtful.

"And, you know, somehow that worked! They've accepted us!" He stretched out his arms in a triumphant gesture and waited for the other's reaction, half expecting to be called a liar again and have to prove his point once more. But there were no outbursts of emotion, quite the opposite, the boy stilled in his spot and seemed more docile than ever. The younger boy looked intensely at the teen, searching for something in his expression to give him out, but it was genuine.

"You really mean it?" Younger Naruto's voice wavered a bit.

"Actually, I'm not sure myself when they did. A lot of things have happened." Naruto smiled, nostalgic. "Unpleasant ones, too. So, I had to solve those problems first. I couldn't have cared less what the villagers thought of me at the time. But then, one day I realized that they didn't hate me anymore. They'd finally seen me for who I really am."

Naruto closed his eyes for a second, recalling the moment. Everyone had gathered around him in a circle once again, but the atmosphere had changed dramatically. People weren't starring him down, gossiping behind his back, or just trying to ignore his existence. Instead, they all smiled approvingly at him. When he met their eyes he didn't see cold stares or shamefully averted eyes. All of them looked back, all of them saw him. They recognized his strength and the fact that he used it to their benefit, how he went to unimaginable lengths and endangered his life just to save them. They finally understood and appreciated. They cheered for him. And in an instant he was their hero. At that moment everything seemed like a miracle.

But as he was looking back, that turning point in his life did not seem so sudden anymore. Rather, the clash with Pain and the annihilation of the village just turned out to be the last brick to the bridge of trust that had slowly formed through years between the villagers and him. Iruka laid the first brick, but what he really did was even greater – he helped Naruto open up, have faith in himself and build up enough courage to believe that one day he would not be hated anymore. Then came Team Seven, granny Tsunade and Jiraiya. All of them helped him to find himself and climb out of the suffocating darkness that had surrounded his childhood.

Of course even those precious people cause him grief at times. First the loss of Jiraiya put him off track. Then again, Sasuke could have been rich by now if he was given a coin each time he hurt Naruto. But even for free the Uchiha was doing it with an admirable zeal. That was not altogether his fault, though. Although best friends in a sense, they could not help hating each other's guts. Twisted as it might seem that mixture of hatred, rivalry, mute understanding and complete trust worked perfectly for them. Well, at least before everything shattered. However, Naruto was too stubborn for his own good to let it go. Still, it was no doubt quite natural to be possessive of one of the dearest things he had ever had. And his bond with Sasuke was unmistakably one of those rare things. Even though to others they seemed like complete opposites, forever destined to fight to the death, Naruto remembered when they'd once stood at the same crossroads – had looked into the abyss of hatred and wavered between falling into that familiar misery and striving for something new, unknown and terrifying.

"Then I just don't get it why I can't be a Hokage," the younger Naruto wondered, scowling lightly despite the warmth in his chest. To think that he would be accepted like that... "I mean, what was it that prevented you from becoming Hokage even though everyone acknowledged you?"

"Nothing," the older Naruto replied curtly, frowning again.

The time stopped for a second or so the younger Naruto thought. He'd actually managed to do it; he'd fulfilled the dream of his life. He couldn't even clearly put into words the emotions that swirled through him at that revelation.

"Then, I... er, I mean you, if everyone approved, you couldn't have given up just then. You really did it, didn't you? Tell me you've actually became Hokage!" Naruto clenched his hands into fists, his voice rising in pitch and volume. His heart stuttered and raced, flushing his skin. A grin pulled at the edge of his lips.

Older Naruto nodded slightly, confirming his younger self's guess. Seeing the younger one bouncing happily, completely fascinated by his words was somewhat hard. He felt a pang of guilt about having to discourage him now, but did not have a choice.

"I did become Hokage and that's the problem." Naruto deadpanned, heaving a sigh. "It's hard to explain, but I really shouldn't have."

"I won't run anymore, so speak up." Younger Naruto's expression grew serious as he prepared to hear out his older self. Something was definitely wrong, but he could not afford to run from it anymore. Whatever the problem was, he would face it.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

Thanks for your reviews!


	16. Chapter 16: Teachers

A/N: Thanks for waiting~ This chapter is a bit longer. I hope I can actually keep the following ones this way too.

Please, enjoy!

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><p>"How long are you planning to continue this?" Sasuke said evenly.<p>

"Er, sorry, Sasuke-kun, I was just..." Sakura muttered, trying to come up with a proper excuse. She really was staring at him openly just now, and he noticed it, how embarrassing. _'He caught me, oh no, what do I do?' _ran through her mind.

_'That's your chance to confess, silly!' Inner Sakura screamed at the opportunity. 'Say you stared 'cuz you like him! C'mon, go for it, Sakura!'_

The girl gulped nervously, hesitating to follow her inner self's advice. "Sasuke, I..." She began.

"Not you." The Uchiha cut her off midsentence. "I'm talking to the one hiding in that tree."

Just as he pointed at the branch where, he supposed, somebody was watching them, the foliage rustled and a person jumped down the tree in a not so graceful manner, probably also taken off guard by being discovered.

Sakura rushed to look at the intruder, mentally thanking them. However, as she realized who it was, her gratitude was quickly replaced with annoyance.

"A-h, no way! Why are you spying on us, Ino-pig?" Sakura cried out in surprise, leaning over the edge of the roof and almost slipping down in the process.

"None of your business, big-forehead, " Ino retorted to her best friend. She dusted her sides and combed her tousled hair, pulling some leaves out of it, to look a bit more presentable.

"I came to ask you something, but~ You seemed so fascinated, sitting alone with Sasuke-kun so, I simply couldn't spoil such a sweet moment," Ino said in a sing-song voice and smiled mockingly. "That's the closest you can get to him anyway."

"Shut it or I'm so getting down to teach you some manners, Ino!" Sakura hissed in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah. Climb down the roof and go take a walk or something, I'd be more than happy to chat with Sasuke-kun all alone," the blond girl suggested, effectively managing to enrage her friend even more.

"As if he wants your company, get lost!" Sakura, completely losing her balance or rather forgetting to maintain it properly in this situation, flopped on the ground. Thanks to the years of kunoichi training in the academy which she rarely missed, Sakura landed in a crouch allowing her to retain her dignity and pretend that she'd actually planned to jump down all along.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, whose presence seemed to be totally ignored, was seriously considering sneaking away from the girls. He really did not want to witness a brawl between them, and it was obviously going to end up in a fight between the two. He might as well have stopped them, as the situation was getting more and more heated up with them switching from just teasing each other to swearing and threatening, but he decided against it. Drawing the two stalkers' attention was not a wise decision, especially if you were the subject of their interest. Each of the fan girls was quite annoying on her own, but if they joined forces or, even worse, competed with each other to get him, it would not mean anything but trouble to him. Thus, Sasuke was just sitting quietly, trying to look composed.

He was not really listening to them, though, he must admit, some of the words caught his attention. He doubted that even Naruto for all his badmouthing had ever used such ones. To hear it from the girls was disturbing. Eventually the Uchiha decided to retreat while it was still an option. However, when he was about to jump from the opposite side of the roof, Ino uttered something that made him froze to his spot. He even edged closer to their side to listen to the upcoming conversation.

"I'll make you eat dust at the Chuunin exam, you just wait, Sakura!"

"What exam?" Sakura's frown was replaced by a confused look.

"Huh, you really don't know or have you just chickened out?" Ino asked in a less high-pitched voice.

"Tell me already, would you." Sakura inquired, crossing her arms.

"Well, I might as well do it, I guess," Ino replied. "I came to ask you about it anyway."

"You should've said it earlier, what's your problem!" Sakura reproached.

"Whatever." Ino sighed calmly, which put Sasuke at ease, assuring him that she was not inclined to continue their heated argument. "Just make sure you're listening now."

"Alright, alright," Sakura agreed in resignation.

Both girls gradually calmed down, feeling tired from their exchange, and came therefore to a mutual agreement to finish their talk peacefully.

Ino then explained a few of the things she herself knew about the Chuunin exam. It would be held in Konoha this year, and more importantly it was almost time for it to begin. She didn't really know what it would consistof as each time the rules were somewhat different, but no doubt there were going to be fights. The Chuunin exam along with its obvious aim also served as a means for the Great Nations, and possibly other countries whose shinobi villages were strong enough to pass the preliminaries, to measure their strength without actually waging wars against each other. Thus genin who managed to get to the final stage of the exam would be honored to represent their respective villages.

"Still why haven't you heard about it, I wonder. As a shinobi you have to be better informed, you know," Ino added on finishing her rough explanation. "But anyway, I guess it's just that Asuma-sensei was quick to tell us."

"I see if we were supposed to learn about the exam from our teachers, no wonder, Team 7 still has no clue." Sakura sighed, defeated.

However, just this once their oblivious to punctuality teacher was not to be blamed. In the confusion that Naruto's sudden arrival from the future had brought, anyone could have gotten distracted.

"I pity you really. Still, just make sure to take part in the exam. It's not the last exam or anything, but as far as I know all of the rookie teams are participating in this year's one, so if you don't do it you'll just end up lagging behind," Ino warned.

"And why are you telling me this? I thought you'd prefer to see me being the dead last," Sakura asked warily, noting to herself, as a matter of fact, that even in the worst case she would not win over the title of the dead last from Naruto.

"Nope, I don't want it this way. That's just boring. What I really want is to fight you!" Ino stated, pointing her index finger at Sakura. "That way I'll finally be able to win against you and prove that I'm stronger."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Sakura replied with a slight smile. "Thanks anyway."

"I'll be going then." Ino said, starting away. "Don't waste my explanation and make sure to come."

"Don't worry; I'd never miss a chance to fight you," Sakura said, waving goodbye.

Still smiling, the pink headed girl turned around to look for her teammate. Spotting him still sitting on the roof, though, somewhat closer to the edge, she also climbed back up.

"Um, Sasuke-kun, so did you hear about the exam?" Sakura addressed her now particularly grim looking teammate, assuming, somewhat to her dismay, that the Uchiha must have listened to their conversation. "I guess I might be taking part."

Sasuke nodded slightly and then added: "I can't miss it either." That exam seemed like a perfect opportunity to estimate his strength, but more importantly it was bound to make him even stronger. So that he would be at least one step closer to that man.

"Yeah, I guess the three of us should try it," Sakura agreed. "I wonder if Naruto would care to join us, though."

Sasuke frowned. "He would."

/o/o/o/o/o/o/Scene shifting line/o/o/o/o/o/

Older Naruto smiled at his younger self, who at last was willing to cooperate. He sat on the ground beside the boy, contemplating from where he should begin. Younger Naruto asserted his future self's countenance patiently, but, seeing how thoughtful the latter appeared, he decided that maybe he could try asking him something first. That is to shape their conversation a bit, as he wanted to learn some facts of the future rather than simply hear what he wasn't supposed to do.

"Say," Younger Naruto began, his heart still pounding at the notion of him actually being capable of becoming the leader of the village one day.

He would be more than happy to hear how exactly the Konoha's higher-ups chose him to be a Hokage, what everyone's reaction was, whether they organized a fancy ceremony for him and so on. However, he thought it better to avoid the seemingly touchy subject for now. Though, what else to ask? Although there were a hundred of questions on the tip of his tongue, he, at the same time, could not formulate properly even one of them. _'Think, there should be something he'd eagerly tell you, without starting this don't-become-hokage talk. Sure, I do need to know the reason, but I'm not letting him persuade me. I'll still be the one to decide whether to risk it or not,'_ younger Naruto thought, determined to stand his ground. There were still a lot of other interesting things to learn, which might actually help him understand his shortcomings and act somewhat different from his future self, escaping in this way the drastic consequences, as the other put it, of him being a Hokage. Then, to estimate his strengths the best thing to ask would certainly be...

"Hey, what techniques you're using?" Younger Naruto questioned with genuine interest. He had been made a Hokage for a reason, right, meaning he had to be very powerful.

"Huh?" Older Naruto stared.

"C'mon, you've learnt a lot of kick-ass jutsu, didn't you? So what are they?"

"Ha-h, not really." Older Naruto chuckled. "After leaving the academy I've only developed a couple or so. That's nothing to be proud of compared to Kakashi-sensei and even Sasuke."

"What, that bastard? I can't believe he's still ahead of us." Younger Naruto scowled. "Anyway, half of his techniques must be lousy. You can't beat quantity with quality!"

"Um, are you actually siding with Sasuke?" Older Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not! Why?"

"It's vice versa then," Older Naruto corrected the boy. "You can't beat quality with quantity."

"Oh... yeah, that's what I meant," Younger Naruto confirmed, but, after giving it a thought, added, "But that doesn't count for my kage bunshin, the more there are of them the better."

"Yeah, they're really handy and in more ways than you think." Older Naruto admitted, smiling.

"Like what?" Younger Naruto's eyes shone with excitement.

"They've helped me a great deal when I was trying to complete my Rasengan."

"Rasengan?" Younger Naruto repeated, dying to know what kind of deadly technique it might turn out to be.

"That's..." the older one began, but caught himself, realizing that the explanation would eventually lead to the story about Jiraiya and his parents. He felt nervous and hesitant for a second, but then, on reminding himself that revealing his past to the younger Naruto was one of his objectives all along, he assured himself there was nothing wrong in doing so.

"Have you heard the name Jiraiya?"

"I doubt so," Younger Naruto replied thoughtfully.

"Well, he's the one who taught me the Rasengan. I'll tell you about him, so listen carefully, because he's bound to become your mentor one of these days," Older Naruto stated, patting his younger self on the shoulder.

"Wow, then who is he? Is he great?"

"He's more than that. Jiraiya is one of the Sannin, meaning one of the three strongest shinobi in the Leaf," Naruto explained with pride audible in his voice. "Besides, he was the Third Hokage's student. He's amazing."

"I think I'd really like to meet him soon," Younger Naruto said, grinning. "But how come he started teaching me?"

"Oh, well, that's a long story really," Naruto muttered, a tint of red crossing his cheeks. Come to think of it, his first meeting with Ero-sennin was accidental and quite embarrassing to say the least of it. It still made him wonder how such a great shinobi could have been, to be frank, a drunkard and a womanizer. However, even this disrespect to the three rules a good ninja should protect, namely, avoid women, gambling and drinks, could not make him lose respect for Jiraiya. In a sense if Naruto had not lost his parents he would have eventually met the sennin anyway, as the man turned out to be his Godfather. However, he was grateful that he had an opportunity to meet Jiraiya without knowing a thing about him and their connection, but having a chance to voluntarily arrange a place for him among his precious people. He was just as eager to meet Jiraiya as his younger self, and, he supposed, it wouldn't be too difficult to accomplish. "But well, anyway. He must be somewhere around, so maybe I'll just try to find him later."

"Then he'd train me?" Younger Naruto asked expectantly.

"Well, I hope." Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "If we're able to persuade him, I mean."

"Do we have to fight him first or something?"

"Not exactly. You'll see when it comes to it," Older Naruto replied in a mysterious voice, contemplating which of his sexy-no-jutsu he should use against his mentor.

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><p>TBC<p>

Thanks for your reviews, guys! They're really keep me going!


	17. Chapter 17: Parents

A/N: Hi, everyone! Thanks for waiting~~

I'm finally through with the exams, so there'd be some summer for me at last)) - meaning- I'll be working extra hard to continue with fic))

For now, please, enjoy this chapter!

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><p>"So that's a promise. I'll try to find Jiraiya-sensei as soon as possible," Older Naruto stated. In the first place, it was in his best interest to get in touch with Jiraiya and not just because he felt like hugging the sennin to death on meeting him, but also because he might need his help. And Jiraiya was not just anyone, with his assistance Naruto could have his battle strength at least doubled. That thought was reassuring as, since travelling back in time, Naruto still hadn't fully regained his strength, and even the Kyuubi seemed dead to the world right now and would not interact with the boy. Itachi's jutsu appeared to have some nasty side effects, and Naruto sincerely hoped that temporal exhaustion was all that it was about.<p>

"Un, can't wait to see him." Younger Naruto nodded. "And the jutsu he helped you to make, what's it like?"

"I guess I can-" Older Naruto looked around cautiously, but spotting no one around, continued. "Show it to you."

Older Naruto moved a bit away from his younger self, but remained sitting on the ground. He then first formed a seal to summon a shadow clone, and, with a cloud of smoke, the latter promptly appeared beside him. Older Naruto raised his right arm before him, and chakra began to concentrate in his opened palm. Even without an order the clone knew what he was needed for and so with the both of his hands he made a few quick motions. The clot of chakra under his arms became dense and turned into a sphere, which, rotating at a high speed, shone brightly. The younger Naruto lingered at the small blue swirling ball, not even daring to breath. The jutsu was mesmerizing. It was emitting pale blue light, and, although inside of it there was a whirl wind of chakra, the surface of the ball remained a perfect sphere.

"Wow!" Younger Naruto gasped, he stretched his arm to feel the glowing ball.

"Oi, oi, hands off, unless you don't need them anymore!" The older boy warned, quickly dissolving the jutsu.

"Sorry." Younger Naruto smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"That's an A-class jutsu, you know, so don't underestimate its destructive force," Older Naruto lectured. "I'd have shown you what it's capable of, but I'd really feel bad about damaging the Hokage monument." And particularly his dad's head under their feet, Naruto thought. This reminded him of something important.

"Never mind, I'll make sure to learn it, so I'll be able to test it myself in no time!" Younger Naruto jumped to his feet, excited. "It's decided, I'm starting my training right now. What was it you're supposed to do first? Just release your chakra from your palm or something, huh? I've only practiced how to do it with my feet for the tree climbing, but anyway."

Older Naruto smiled at his younger self, who was, as of yet, vainly trying to produce some chakra in his hand.

"Well, that's not exactly how the training goes, so you better wait for Jiraiya-sensei. Anyway, I'm glad you're so eager to learn it, because it's a very important jutsu. And not just because it's powerful or anything. It's our legacy."

"Legacy?" Younger Naruto echoed his older self, bringing his training to a halt for the moment.

"Yeah." Older Naruto nodded. "Excluding us, only two people were capable of using this jutsu. That is Jiraiya-sensei and our father. Actually, dad's the one who created the Rasengan."

"You... Did you meet him?" Younger Naruto's heart raced. He never so much as hoped to ever see his parents, much less to receive something from them.

"Yeah, kind of,." Older Naruto replied sulkily.

"Did it go well?" Younger Naruto asked, hoping to receive a positive answer as he sincerely wished their encounter was something special and warm.

The thought of meeting his father one day filled the boy with joy and expectation; however some negative thoughts also crawled in the back of his mind. What was it like to have a father? More importantly was his father actually glad to meet his son? A certain fear seized him. Naruto tried hard to suppress it, but the thought would not let him be. The truth was he was afraid of meeting his father. Every time he heard the word parents, it hurt. And not just because he didn't have any. More than anything he feared learning why they weren't around. Even though the Third Hokage would dismiss all the questions about his family with a reply that his parents had died to protect Konoha from the demon fox, sometimes he doubted that was the case. He knew that it was awful to even suppose that his parents might have abandoned him, but he just couldn't help it. Now that his father might turn out to be alive, what was he supposed to think? Was he really unneeded to that person? Just like the villagers told him, no one wants to have a demon kid around. That fear was an eventual conclusion to which a lonely child, constantly called a demon and treated as nothing but a nuisances, could come to. Even though he was fairly sure that he just should have ignored all those spiteful words the villagers threw at him, some of them still happened to sink in.

"Well it did and it didn't." Older Naruto wasn't sure how to put it. "It's just... I only saw him for a few minutes. And it was a total disaster around us. The village was under attack, so we couldn't even talk properly."

"Why didn't you meet afterwards?"

"We couldn't." Older Naruto clutched the fabric of his shirt over the seal on his stomach. "I know, I used to doubt whether my parents were no longer a part of this world or just abandoned me. But they really died the day Konoha was attacked by the demon fox."

Younger Naruto felt his heart sink.

"They... Even though mom and dad have died, they never left my side,." Older Naruto said in a soft voice.

"I don't really understand..."

"Sorry, it might sound weird, I guess, but I saw them in my mind."

Younger Naruto eyed his future self a bit suspiciously, feeling even more confused. "But I don't remember their faces, and although I've tried countless of times, I always fail. Was it hypnosis or something?"

"No, it wasn't. We're not ninja for nothing, you know. They placed a special seal on my stomach and fused their chakra in it," Older Naruto explained. "Now, don't make such face, I'm not lying."

"And I have a mirror in my apartment. I think I'd have spotted a seal on my stomach by now," Younger Naruto stated, crossing his arms.

"Wanna bet?" Older Naruto smirked.

"Two bowls of ramen."

"Nice." Older Naruto shook hands with his younger self. "Now let's prove you wrong and get me ramen."

"You wish," Younger Naruto replied, unzipping his orange jacket and proudly showing his tan stomach. "See."

"Not yet." Older Naruto refused to admit his defeat. "Now close your eyes and try to activate your chakra circuits. You have to concentrate, so do it patiently until I tell you to open your eyes."

"Alright." Younger Naruto sighed and followed his older self's instruction without much zeal.

Older Naruto watched the boy before him intently. The seal started to emerge on the boy's stomach, but Older Naruto decided to wait till it became denser. Meanwhile, he briefly wondered whether the other Kyuubi in his younger self's body was alert to his presence. Probably not, he was concealing his chakra after all. Still he was not hundred per cent sure the trick worked on the bijuu. In any case the fox was not trying to communicate, and Naruto was not eager to do so either, at least not until Kurama woke up.

"There, open your eyes!" Older Naruto commanded, poking the boy in his stomach.

"Hey!" Younger Naruto clutched at his stomach, ticklish. But seeing something unusual on his skin, he quickly removed his hand and gasped. "No way!"

"That's why gambling is bad, it's one of the three things a good ninja should know how to resist." Older Naruto smiled, enjoying his younger self's confusion and genuine surprise.

"Alright, you got me," Younger Naruto admitted, sighing in relief when the strange mark turned invisible again. "But what's that thing's purpose?"

Older Naruto didn't quite like the idea of telling his younger self all about the Kyuubi just yet . He was not sure he could explain it in a good way, and the boy having a grudge against Kurama or his parents was not in his plans. Besides, at this point of time, knowing what Mizuki had told his younger self about the demon fox, the boy already was, to say the least of it, disturbed by the notion of having the Kyuubi sealed inside him. That was not surprising, if older Naruto did not knew better, if he did not try to interact with Kurama and struggle to understand and consequently befriend the fox, he would have ended up hating the demon fox just like the rest of the village. Thus, he had a feeling that the boy could accept Kurama only after talking to him and understanding that he was not just a tool of destruction, but a being that deserved respect. However, for that to happen, the boy has to meet the demon in person, otherwise all the explanations are meaningless. Some things were better left alone for the time being, so Naruto tried to omit the essential part containing information about the demon fox.

"It was made to protect you. They really didn't have much choice, so they decided to use the seal on you, but that's all because they had faith in you." Older Naruto sighed. "You'll eventually learn how this seal works and what it's about. I'll make sure that Jiraiya-sensei helps you with it too. Now you just have to know one thing, our parents made this seal, because they believed in us. They had confidence that we would manage to make the best use of it. And I don't regret their decision."

"I never knew they did so much for me." Younger Naruto wasn't so much concerned with the contents of the jutsu anymore as he was moved to realize how strongly his parents actually felt for their son. "If they meant it for me, then I can't disappoint them! Whatever it is, I'm gonna accept it."

"It's really powerful and has a nasty character, so don't take your guard down with this seal," Older Naruto warned, a bit disappointed that the Kyuubi was asleep at the moment and couldn't hear his remark.

"I'll master it anyway, so they would be proud of me... Mom and dad would,." Younger Naruto replied with confidence, tasting the two new words that he felt he could use more freely now.

"They already are," Older Naruto whispered, pulling his younger self into a hug.

"I really want to see them," Younger Naruto mumbled against his older self's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know," Older Naruto replied, ruffling the boy's blond hair. He knew well enough how important that meeting was and how much it meant for him. However, he didn't know how to trigger his parents' appearance in a harmless way, as trying to break into the fox's cage or attempting to tame him right now was out of the question. His younger self had to do it on his own when he was ready to. There was something else he could do for the boy, though. Deciding to try it out, he commanded, "Hey, close your eyes."

"Huh, ok." Younger Naruto complied, hoping that when he opened his eyes again there wouldn't be any more mysterious marks on his body.

Older Naruto exchanged a meaningful glance with his clone, who, having been completely forgotten all this time, was quietly sitting a few feet away from them. The clone nodded in return, and almost simultaneously they whispered, "Henge!"

"Did you just say…henge…" Younger Naruto asked and, as his curiosity got the better of him, opened his eyes. And gaped, staring at the unknown but strangely familiar-looking person. The man with long yellow bangs and kind blue eyes smiled at him gently. Naruto was too shocked to say anything. Someone touched his shoulder; he turned to look at that person. It was a young woman with long silky hair of a peculiar colour. She gave him a cheeky grin much like his own smile looked. Beautiful, was the only thing that ran through his mind. She also sat on the ground so Naruto was now placed between the two of them.

"Oh, God…" Naruto was trembling, as the realization hit him. His eyes watered, the tears threatened to pour, but the red headed woman gently wiped them away and caressed his cheek.

The next thing he knew was a feeling of warmness and safety as both of them hugged him tightly. He didn't care that it was an illusion. It was too real and he needed it too much to dare complain in any way. All he wanted was to preserve this feeling, to savour this emotion that made his heart beat so fast. He simply wished this moment would never end, so he completely submitted to it.

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><p>TBC<p>

Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'm so happy that many of you like my work. Really, it's the greatest encouragement ever))


	18. Chapter 18: Chase

**A/N**: Well, um… Hello, every one!

I really can't stress enough how sorry I am! I can tell that I've let down many of you not updating for so long. So, I'm really very sorry! I had my reasons, though. I also felt bad because I couldn't continue with the story…

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who didn't lose hope in me. I will finish this fic properly no matter what, I promise!

Now, please, enjoy the chapter!

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><p>Naruto entered the Uchiha district, carrying his younger self on his back, as the latter had drifted off to sleep when they were sitting on the Hokage monument. They passed empty houses, some had their windows shattered, some even lacked doors, the walls bore signs of the shurikens having been thrown into them, flower beds by the windows, without proper care, were long since void of any signs of life. No one really attempted to hide the evidence of the massacre.<p>

Naruto's footsteps echoed in the lonely street. It was such a strange feeling to be the only source of the sound; even birds did not seem to favor this place. He was walking through a ghost town. Naruto gulped down. _How could Sasuke stand walking through this street every day? Was he deliberately torturing himself with this view, using it as a reminder that would not let him stray from his goal?_

If you walked or better run through it looking only at the ground ahead of you, probably, you could be lucky enough to miss the terrible details that gave out the true nature of this uncharacteristically silent street. But Sasuke would not do it, would he? Naruto knew him well enough to guess that Sasuke was determined to carve the image into the back of his head. A cruel punishment, which he preferred to call a means of sustaining his resolve to kill his only living sibling. He wanted to overshadow all the early memories with this image as if the streets of the Uchiha district have never been full of people, as if he has never walked down them hand in hand with his brother smiling happily. Holding onto those memories was too painful for him, unbearable even, so he desperately tried to shield himself from them. In truth Naruto did not even have to guess, he knew, he could just feel that Sasuke had these thoughts and conflicted emotions. Naruto could tell because he had them too, once, when he felt just as lost. His own life, the loss of his precious people and his struggle to be accepted, allowed him to share Sasuke's pain. But it was more than this, he understood the other boy so well because he cared deeply for the Uchiha and wanted to see the source of his pain, to understand it, so that he could help him move on, because he could not let Sasuke be swallowed by the hatred and despair. He wanted them to walk alongside, because then they would not be alone anymore. And maybe, just maybe, someday they would share more than each other's pain, but also the happy memories, they would acquire together.

Trying to reach Sasuke for years, he thought more than once how selfish and self-serving his quest was. He was determined to do whatever it takes to drag back an unwilling Uchiha or die trying. That was the promise he made to Sakura. He vowed to make Sasuke return, because before anything else it meant saving his life from Orochimaru. But then Orochimaru got defeated by Sasuke, and it would be a lie to say Naruto had not anticipated that outcome. Maybe Sasuke was naïve in some ways, but most certainly not gullible enough to willingly let a sick pervert ride his body, and if he was to fight Orochimaru with his life at stake he would not die no matter what, because there was only one man Sasuke was prepared to die fighting.

Even as a missing ninja Sasuke was capable of surviving on his own, or so Naruto believed, having face in his friend's strength. But then again, why did he keep chasing Sasuke who clearly had no interest in him or the rest of Konoha, not to dwell on the fact that he ended up hating the village. Naruto knew the real answer to that question for a while, but was reluctant to admit it to himself. Sasuke might not needed to be saved, but Naruto did. With Sasuke's betrayal a huge part of Naruto's soul was torn into shreds and no matter what he did he could not mend the pieces. It hurt. It hurt so much he could not possibly go on like this. Even his dream did not seem as meaningful if at its completion there would be no Sasuke to make a sarcastic remark about dobes becoming Hokage, but still smile and pat him on the shoulder. He felt emptiness, the kind of which he had not felt since childhood. It was eating at him, destroying him. So he desperately ran after the only possible thing that could fill in that growing vacuity – his bond with Sasuke. Ignoring Sasuke's wish to permanently sewer that bonds, he blindly pressed on. He knew it was selfish, but he could not care less.

Naruto clenched his teeth. This time he would definitely do it right. No matter how much he liked to be in the spot lite, he would make sure that there was enough room for Sasuke, because he could not let him slip into the shadows again. Now that he knew that imposing on the Uchiha would only estrange him, the only real question was how to stop him from ruining his life by killing Itachi and becoming Madara's pawn. He won't force himself on the Uchiha and warn his younger self about it, but he has to make sure Sasuke's goals do not involve the destruction of Konoha. And that meant he has to somehow make him shed the mask of the avenger. And this thought brought him back to Uchiha Itachi and the question as to how contact him and persuade to tell Sasuke the truth.

Naruto sighed. He probably only have to parade out of Konoha flaring Kyuubi's chakra here and there and not only Itachi, but the whole bunch, Madara included, would turn up to assault him. He has to work out a plan to be more discreet about his movements, unless he wanted to end up facing Madara in his weakened state.

His train of thought was disturbed by a soft noise somewhere above his head. He immediately tensed and looked up to determine the possible source of the noise in this ghost town like district.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

Please, review! But, I beg you, do not threaten to kill me! I feigned death for more than a year and I really can't continue to let down my last remaining fans.


	19. Chapter 19: Determination

**A/N**: Guys, thank you so much for continuing reading this fanfic. I was really encouraged by the views stats. Special thanks for those who added my story in their favourites!

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><p><em>His train of thought was disturbed by a soft noise somewhere above his head. He immediately tensed and looked up to determine the possible source of the noise in this ghost town like district.<em>

"Sensei?" Naruto flinched, looking up the nearby roof to see his mentor. He was almost back to Sasuke's home, so running into his teacher, who was also bound to return there, was not much surprising, still, deep in his thoughts - never mind that particular one about the ghost town and the chain of associations it triggered - he was startled none the less.

Kakashi chuckled to himself. It seemed that even after half a decade Naruto was easy to sneak up on. Perhaps the boy only allowed himself to let his guard down when inside the village, but a shinobi can never be too cautious. Actually wasn't what they drilled in you in the Ninja Academy? That is, if you weren't sleeping or skipping classes all the time. Kakashi signed. Somehow he felt he should sympathize more with Iruka. The next time he sees the Chuunin he should probably remark on him being too easy on his little ninja-wanna-bes. Good initial training and knowledge means a lot in the shinobi world, more often than not it actually means the life of the person in questions. One cannot allow himself to day-dream during a mission, absent-minded behavior leads to blunders, which cause casualties. Usually lives of the whole team are at stake. Team members are codependent on each other, to survive they have to trust their comrades with their lives, relying on their judgment on what action to take next or what strategy to use. Sometimes this decision has to be instantaneous, and that is exactly why everyone must always be on alert and quick to react.

"He's not out cold again, is he?" inquired Kakashi, asserting the two boys beneath him. If the older Naruto still have not learned to be observant, what one could expect from his younger counterpart.

"Nah, he just fell asleep." Naruto replied, referring to the younger boy, whom he was carrying on his back at the moment.

"I didn't think your speech could have been that boring." Kakashi smirked.

Even though the older blond seemed to have a carefree air about him, Kakashi could feel that if needed be the boy could be as attentive as anyone else. He saw it in his eyes, this instant change from his playful attitude to being deadly serious. Just like his late mentor Uzumaki Naruto always was there to protect his comrades, Kakashi was certain about this. Despite the fact that he still did not know everything about the person Naruto grew up into, he could already see the determination and strive to protect in his younger counterpart.

Kakashi jumped down, falling into step with his student. They continued walking towards the Uchiha mansion. The empty streets looked terribly unwelcoming and gloomy.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto protested, giving his teacher a half-hearted glare. "I didn't bore him to sleep. In fact I didn't even have the talk with him yet."

"Why so?" Kakashi asked, shifting a piece of folded skin-colored cloth in his hands.

"He wasn't really listening to me at first. Then we ended up talking about the past and I couldn't find the right moment to change the topic." Naruto explained. "At least it seems that I'm getting through to him. So, next I'll make him listen to what I have to tell about the future."

Kakashi heaved a sigh. Naruto's determination was bothering him a little. He had some time to think over Naruto's plan to stop his younger self from chasing his life-long dream. He could not deny that in a way this measure might help to alter the course of the future, still, though… It was painful to watch how the boy was trying to step on his own dream. Maybe Kakashi was not the best of the teachers, but as a teacher, as a mentor he firmly believed that his role lies in helping his students achieve their dreams, is it not? So he could not simply accept the fact that one of his protégées was going to sacrifice not just a dream, but his driving force, the very reason that made him wake up every morning, train, hone his skills, achieve respect from the villagers and shape himself into the person he is today. Was it really their only choice? With something as complicated as the concept time-travel jutsu and possibility to change the future was it even safe to meddle? Although Kakashi could not imagine anything worse than the complete annihilation of his home village along with the deaths of his comrades, as well as his own for that matter, he was still hesitant. Maybe he felt this way because he knew that it was not his place to make this choice, but on the other hand was Naruto from his time really unquestionably obliged to follow his older self's request? Today the smaller boy seemed pretty clear about his unwillingness to abide by this plan. And Kakashi could understand him. Though, the only one person who could completely understand the graveness of this situation was the older Naruto and him alone. He could see how tormented the boy was. This choice hung like a rope around his neck. It was cutting off his air, but he could not get rid of it. This rope round his neck – the danger – was no doubt real, so it could not just disappear with a 'puff' and a cloud of smoke, the only way was to cut it, but how could he do that when his friends were grasping the other end of the rope, hovering over the abyss?

This impossible choice was making the boy desperate, disillusioned. He was rushing to get out of this situation at lesser cost. In his case through self-renunciation. This was terrible. And Kakashi could not tolerate it, because he hoped against hope that there was a third choice. He wanted it to be that way and he was determined to discover it for the sake of his student. Besides, after all Naruto was also the legacy of his precious mentor, so it was the least he could do. That is what the 4-th Hokage would have try to do anyway.

"Should you really entrust him with such a burden?" Kakashi asked bluntly.

"What else can I do? I've told you what would happen if I became Hokage. I wasn't lying." Naruto said bitterly. "I don't want that future. I don't want the future where I have pushed my best friend to leave the village and become a missing ninja, the future where I let down my comrades and brought my village to its downfall."

Kakashi could feel how Naruto's words dipped with anger and desperation. The boy clearly blamed everything on himself, which from Kakashi's perspective was not a good thing to do. Maybe that was the key all along?

The future, can it really depend solely on the actions of one person? Actually it is quite selfish and even ignorant to assume so. The World, after all, does not revolve around one person. It is a wild combination of decisions and actions made by different people that can determine the course of the future. It is also fair to say that sometimes a great role is played by the chain of coincidences which some prefer to call fate. If something is destined to be could one person really prevent it? However much he struggles maybe this particular course of events just does not depend on him, thus it is not in his power to change it? At least if one is to be blamed for something he has to be directly involved in it, a real culprit to put it simply.

"I've been thinking about what you told me." Kakashi began. "I really don't understand why you keep on blaming yourself."

"Sensei…" Naruto stopped walking.

"No, just tell me this one thing." Kakashi also stopped and faced his student. "Did you destroy the village with your own hands? Or was it the Kyuubi perhaps?"

"Of cause not!" Naruto exclaimed, defending himself as well as the Nine-tailed Fox. "I've told you, it was Madara Uchiha and the Akatsuki".

"Well, then how come it's your fault?" Kakashi inquired.

"Because I was the Hokage. The leader of the village, it's protector! And who is to blame if not the leader of the village?!" Naruto hissed, still trying to control his voice, so that he would not wake his younger self up. "If I didn't become the Hokage than maybe…"

"Then what?" Kakashi mocked. "Would Madara reconsider attacking the village?"

"I doubt so." Naruto was caught off guard. He bit down on his lower lip.

"But maybe… what if there was a more suited man to become Hokage… Maybe he could have defeated Madara with fewer casualties…" Naruto contemplated, his voice sad and uncertain.

"But there was not." Kakashi deadpanned. "The title is not everything. If at the time there was such a man in our village, no doubt he would have defended the village. One does not have to bear the title of the Hokage to do it, he just has to love the village and possess the will to protect it."

Kakashi sighed, looking at his student who was seemingly lost for words. Kakashi on the other hand, was felt that he was about to grasp the answer, he just need to voice it himself to make it real, to see if it can be real. He proceeded.

"Let yourself off the hook for once. It wasn't because you were unsuited or anything. Actually our elders are pretty strict, so you probably had proved yourself worthy countless of times before they finally admitted it, right?" Kakashi suggested. "It is a scary thing to say, but maybe it was just inevitable?"

Naruto looked up, bewildered. "How could you say that, Kakashi-sensei."

The jounin just shrugged his shoulders.

"I think that at that particular time, the way all the events and decisions combined and formed that particular future, it became unavoidable." Kakashi reasoned.

"I'm just telling you, don't look back. What happened had happened and you cannot change it. The sole fact that you're here now means that the future, this particular future, would be at least tad bit different from the drastic one that you've faced. But it is a different future now. You can't overwrite it just by ordering your younger self what to do. The impact might turn out to be quite different from what you are expecting, so don't risk it." He looked Naruto in the eyes, putting his hand on the other's shoulder.

"Live it yourself, change it with your own hands. There are two of you here right now, and I believe, it's for a reason."

"I-", Naruto weighted his sensei's words. Maybe he really should be the one to act? Was he just running away all this time, trying to make up for his screw ups at the expense of his younger self? That was not like him! That was not Uzumaki Naruto! Because Uzumaki Naruto always fought for his precious things himself. Never wavering, never giving up. Especially not now.

He felt his younger self's gentle breathing on his neck. Right. You're not me yet. I can't make you suffer like I did. That's just selfish isn't it? That future, those mistakes… they are mine responsibility. Don't worry, I will make certain you won't have to face them.

"Sensei, I -" Naruto muttered, he could feel his eyes water. He finally saw it - the right path. "Thank you, I think I understand now, what really needs to be done. And I will fight for it, believe me. "

Kakashi smiled at him behind his mask.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

Please, review!


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